Grand Rapids Public Library map and atlas collection
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
- no date
Biographical / Historical
The maps currently included in Collection 240 date from as early as 1566, with a published “Finaeus Cordiform Map of the World.” The handful of pre-19th Century maps are early U.S., Canadian and/or those of British or French influence. Maps of Grand Rapids begin around 1833 with a Plat of the Village of Grand Rapids. The map management database documents a steady flow of one type of map or another from 1833 to the present, though not all of these may be for the Grand Rapids area. Some interesting comparisons might be made, of the information in the 1896 map of Michigan bicycle routes, for example, with the 2006/2007 Michigan bike routes map.
Extent
70.3 Linear Feet
Language of Materials
English
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.
Processing Information
In June of 2024 collection 240 underwent reprocessing to reclaim archival space and to make the collection easier for staff and patron use. Duplicative and out of scope material was removed and boxes that were partially filled were combined. Boxes 4.1, 4.2, 4.5, 4.7 and 4.8 were combined into a new box 4. Material in box 40 was moved into box 39. The contents of box 15.75 were added to box 39. Some of the boxes in the P and A series were overfilled and too heavy to lift. This material was weeded and the atlases that remained were put into new boxes and filled so that they could could be lifted and moved easily. These boxes were assigned new box numbers.
- 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)
- Title
- Finding aid for the Grand Rapids Public Library map and atlas collection
- Status
- Completed
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- Undetermined
- Script of description
- Code for undetermined script
Repository Details
Part of the Grand Rapids History Center Repository
Grand Rapids Public Library
111 Library Street NE
Grand Rapids Michigan 49503 USA
616-988-5497
localhis@grpl.org