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Grand Rapids Public Library map and atlas collection

 Collection
Identifier: Collection 240

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The GRPL map and atlas collection primarily includes items which correspond to the local history mission of the department, covering the Greater Grand Rapids area and Kent County foremost, with the addition of some maps for other areas of Michigan, or Michigan in general.

Other atlases and maps are housed in the Local History Public Service area, and currently not considered part of the archival holdings. However, there may be a general cross reference given in this finding aid to some of these atlases from similar holdings housed in the Archives. In some cases the original plat map, for example, is now in the Archives, and a photocopy is on the Grand Rapids History Center floor.

Included in this collection are many oversized maps, stored in flat files, on top of the flat files and in rolled tubes.

The old Map card file, which used to be the primary access tool for maps in the department, does not include maps added to the collections in recent years, and does not provide location information, which is found in either this finding aid or in the map management database.

Dates

  • Creation: no date

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is open and available for researcher use.

Full Extent

70 Linear Feet

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

This is a devised collection that was created to document the maps and atlases which are not part of another designated archival collection. Included are over a thousand items, focusing on the greater Grand Rapids, Michigan and Kent County areas. Maps for select areas of Michigan and for the entire state are also available.

The collection contains a variety of maps, including historical property surveys, plat maps, street maps, city planning maps, railway maps, recreational maps, river or lake maps, pictorial maps, aerials and geological or topographical maps.

Related Materials

GRHSC public service floor holdings are not currently listed in the archival collection finding aid, though many are housed on the service floor in archival storage boxes. In some cases, the latest available holdings of a title, such as the Sidwell's Insurance Maps, are housed on the public floor, while older versions are in Collection 240.

One key map set which is held only in the GRHSC public service area, for example, is the Sanborn maps. Only holdings from the 1950's are in the original paper format, while three earlier time periods are available on microfilm, providing a footprint of a building from ca. 1890 to around 1954.

Also, other map holdings may be located at the City Archives, which has much more current sets of the Sidwell's maps, for example, than currently held at GRPL. These may be viewed by appointment only, with the City Archivist, Bill Cunningham, 616-456-3114.

Coll. 044: John Ball Collection, contain maps of the U.S., related to his travel, following the routes of earlier explorers.

Coll. 132: Kent County Bridges Collection, includes reports with select maps related to bridge/road construction over the Grand River from the Michigan Department of Transportation.

Coll. 216: GRPL Ephemera Collection, contains guides and flyers which may include Grand Rapids or section area maps as part of their contents.

Coll. 245: Past Perfect, may contain city planning maps.

Coll. 254: GRPL Buildings, may contain city planning maps

Coll. 281: GRPL Michigan History Collection. May contain references to boxes or flat file maps/charts, etc. for Michigan, but not Grand Rapids map items.

Coll. 303: City of Grand Rapids (Michigan) Records at the Grand Rapids Public Library. In particular, City Planning reports may contain maps. See also the separate City Archives.

Limited holdings of other maps may be found in other GRPL archival collections, including those published within the documents in those collections or captured as a photograph of a map.

Subjects

Deaccessions

  • Rand McNally Standard World Atlas, N.Y. 1951
  • Map & Profiles of the New York State Canals
  • Map of Part of Alabama and Florida shewing the route of the proposed Columbus and Pensacola Railroad, 1836; Map of the Breach at eh head of Presqu'ile Bay, Erie, PA 1835; Sketch of the Country embracing several routes from Portsmouth Ohio to Linville NC, 1832.
  • National Geographic map of Ontario, Canada 1978.
  • Map of Minnesota Territory reproduction, 1850, published by St. Paul. Minnesota Hist. Soc. Press, 1999.
  • Illustrated Historical Atlas of Kent County Michigan 1876
  • Standard Atlas of Kent County Michigan 1907
  • Illustrated Historical Atlas of the Counties of Ottawa and Kent, Michigan reprint 1975 (2 copies)
  • Plat Maps of Greater Grand Rapids (2 copies)
  • Farm Plat Book, Kent County, Michigan / sponsored by Kent County 4-H Leaders Club. Rockford, Il. : Rockford Map Publ., 1955. Accession: 2005.079
  • Centennial Geological Map of the Southern Peninsula of Michigan / compiled by Helen M. Martin. Dept. of Conservation, Geological Survey Division, 1936, oversized folded map. 00.[1545].1

Finding Aid & Administrative Information

Title
Finding aid for the Grand Rapids Public Library map and atlas
Status
Completed
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin

Repository Details

Repository Details

Part of the Grand Rapids History Center Repository

https://www.grpl.org/history/
Contact:
Grand Rapids Public Library
111 Library Street NE
Grand Rapids Michigan 49503 USA
616-988-5497

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