OpenHistoricalMap/Projects

OpenHistoricalMap is informally organized into community projects that focus on specific places or themes in the map across time. These projects are documented here to coordinate efforts and serve as a starting point for research.

Structure of a project

A typical project page includes:

• Context about why the place or theme is of interest
• A description of what has been mapped so far
• Priorities for improving coverage
• Online resources to consult when mapping
• Sources of imported data (or potential sources)

Creating a project page is a good way to attract other mappers to collaborate with you in building up local coverage.

Themes

The following projects are distributed widely and not necessarily associated with standard geographic areas:

• Highways - Historic Highway Routes
• Waterways - Historic Waterways
• Ghost Tracks - Historic Motorsports Venues.
• Open Gravestones - A project to provide open burial data built on open standards
• Railway - Railroads/railways of the world.
• Stadiums - Stadiums and sports venues that are no longer with us
• World's Fairs - historical World's Fair Venues
• Diversity - Projects that focus on the minority/ethnic/gender/racial past
  • Rapp Road
  • Seneca Village
  • Aboriginal Lands

Geographies

Global

• Countries - List of currently sovreign countries for easy viewing and downloading

Empires

• British Empire - Boundary changes (1533-1997) | Completed on Feb 07, 2025
• Dutch Empire - Boundary changes (1595-1975)
• German Empire - Boundary changes (1884-1920)
• Holy Roman Empire - All things related to the Holy Roman Empire.
• Mongol Empire - Growth, splintering, decline
• Roman Empire - Roman Kingdom through the Roman Empire and into Eastern and Western Roman Empire
• Spanish Empire - Boundary changes (1492-1976)

Africa

• Colonial Africa

Egypt

• Alexandria

Tunisia

• Carthage

Asia

Cambodia

• Highways in Cambodia (miscellaneous newspaper articles)

China

• China

Hong Kong

• City of Victoria

India

• Modern India rivers and waterways cleanup
• Modern India admin boundaries

Iran (Persia)

• Highways in Iran (miscellaneous newspaper articles)

Iraq

• City of Ur

Israel

• Jerusalem
• Midburn

Japan

• Japan

Korea

• Korea

Philippines

• Metro Manila - Development of Metropolitan Manila
• Baguio - Development of the City of Baguio

Sri Lanka

• Highways in Sri Lanka (miscellaneous newspaper articles)

Türkiye (Turkey)

• Highways in Turkey (miscellaneous newspaper articles)

Vietnam

• Vietnam
  • Hanoi
  • Saigon
  • Haiphong
  • South Vietnam, especially names of administrative regions

Europe

• Muninn WW1 - WW1 Trench Geometries / Artillery emplacements.

Romans

• Roman Roads - Continent-wide route network of Roman Empire (routing demo)
• Roman Places - map the civitates and oppida.
• Roman Empire - map the Roman empire
• City of Rome - map of the City of Rome

Austria

• Budget in Austria
• Census in Austria
• Highways in Austria

Bosnia and Herzegovina

• Highways in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Croatia

• Highways in Croatia

Czech Republic

• Indication Sketches – Cadastral map of Austria from 1826–1843

Denmark

• Denmark

Estonia

• Tartu - City from 1880-1960 based on snapshots from historical maps

Latvia

• Railways

Finland

• Helsinki 1907 - Transport routing at 1900
• Helsinki - City plan 1820

France

• Nancy - City of Nancy, France
• Orléans - City of Orléans, France
• Rennes - City of Rennes, France

Germany

• Messtischblätter
• Berlin
• Germersheim - Development of Germersheim
• Hamburg - Development of Hamburg
• Hessen - Development of Hesse
• Highways in Germany
• Lingenfeld - Development of Lingenfeld
• Lübeck - Development of Lübeck
• Trier - Development of Trier
• Windmills in Germany
• Württemberg - Development of Württemberg

Greece

• Highways in Greece

Hungary

• Highways in Hungary

Italy

• Highways in Italy (miscellaneous newspaper articles)
• Milan - Development of Milan
• Historical states of Italy

Netherlands

• Doetinchem - Development of Doetinchem
• Land reclamation in the Netherlands - Evolution of the coastline of the Netherlands

Norway

• Hovedbanen - Oldest public railway line

Poland

• Highways in Poland (miscellaneous newspaper articles)

Portugal

• Portugal

Romania

• Highways in Romania (miscellaneous newspaper articles)

Russia

• Highways in Russia (miscellaneous newspaper articles)

Spain

• Highways in Spain (miscellaneous newspaper articles)
• Madrid
  • Flamenco Map of Madrid's notable flamenco performance establishments, called tablaos

Serbia

• Panchevo - Development of Panchevo

Switzerland

• Highways in Switzerland
• Thurgau - Overview of projects in the Canton of Thurgau
  • Thurgau in the 19th century

Sweden

• 3D Buildings - Time enabled 3D mapping of buildings in Sweden.
• Stockholm Census Districts – Census districts in the city of Stockholm 1878–1926.
• Stockholm County Administrative Boundaries – Administrative boundaries in the county of Stockholm since 1850.

Ukraine

• Highways in Ukraine (miscellaneous newspaper articles)
• Kyiv 1800 - 2000 - Kiev/Kyiv development of the urban morphology of the center of the capital of Ukraine.

United Kingdom

• Derby - mapping the development of Derby
• London - mapping the development of London
• Scottish Boundaries - historical administrative units of Scotland
• Snow's Map - Soho at time of John Snow's Cholera work
• Trumpington - The architectural history of Trumpington. route

North America

Canada

• Toronto - Development of Toronto and surroundings from the early 19th C to the present
• Metro Vancouver - Development of Vancouver, surrounding cities, and the University of British Columbia to the present

Central America

• Country Boundaries

Mexico

• Tenochtitlan

United States of America

• Green Books - importing datasets related to the Negro Motorist and Negro Travelers' Green Books (1936-66)
• Railway - Railroads of North America
• Time zone boundaries
• US Post Offices - potential import of the Blevins-Helbock Historic Post Office Database
• US Forest Service - From the first Forest Reserves designated in 1891 through the designation as National Forests in 1905, as well as special projects such as the Civilian Conservation Corps, Experiment Forests and Ranges, Wilderness and other notable historical aspects.

US Historical Trails

• Colonizing Trails West - Routes of the mass migration west. (Wagon Roads)
• Oregon Trail - to trace the route or routes of the migration west known as the Oregon Trail

US Historical Roads

• Interstate Highway System
• US Highways - recreating the US road system, working backward from the Interstates.
• Lincoln Highway - route of the first major transcontinental highway in the US.
• Route 66 - to trace the route or routes of the transcontinental highway known as Route 66.

US Historical Boundaries

• Newberry Atlas of Historical County Boundaries Import - Import of the Newberry Library's Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.

US Historical Natural Features

• US Historical Land Cover
• National Hydrography Dataset - Import of waterway and water body data from USGS.

US Historical Events

• American Civil War - Sites and events from the American Civil War

Arkansas

• Pulaski Heights A 20th Century Streetcar Suburb in Little Rock, 1888 - 1962

California

• Santa Clara Valley (Santa Clara County, South Bay, San Jose, Silicon Valley, etc.)

Indiana

• Indianapolis and vicinity

Maine

• Maine Central Railroad & Portland Terminal Company - Data sourced from 1916 Valuation Maps

Maryland

• Baltimore

Massachusetts

• Evolution of Boston Bay shoreline since colonization

Michigan

• Michigan - Places, roads, administrative boundaries of the state of Michigan, including development of Detroit and environs from the early 19th C to the present

Nevada

• Burning Man - 2008 and 2009 maps of Burning Man festival from OSM

New Hampshire

• New Hampshire - Mapping roads and buildings of the state of New Hampshire, from 1892 to today

New York

• Long Island - some historic roads on Long Island, including the Long Island Motor Parkway.
• Capital District of New York - Changes to the Capital District of New York since the 1600s
• New York City - Historical Mapping efforts in NYC

Ohio

• Columbus and vicinity
• Cincinnati and vicinity

Oklahoma

• Oklahoma State Highway Maps

Rhode Island

• Providence

Virginia

• Williamsburg and the College of William & Mary

Washington

• Early Seattle - 19th C Seattle
• King County 1936 - 1936 aerial image of King County
• Sanderson's Map 1835 - 20 miles around Mansfield 1835

Wisconsin

• Wisconsin - Mapping roads, places, and administrative boundaries of the state of Wisconsin

Oceania

Australia

• Sydney
• Newcastle - Newcastle, Lake Macquarie and the Hunter Valley

South America

• Buenos Aires - Development of city in late 19th C, early 20th C. Initial city stripping prototype.

As yet unsorted

• Linked Data - Linked data show/use case and tagging proposal from OpenHistoricalMap.

Proposed

• British Railways
• Native Lands - native lands of the aboriginals/Tribes.

Potential

No one is working on these (yet). If you're not sure what you want to do in OHM, consider them.

• West 9th Street, Little Rock, Arkansas - A vibrant African-American business and entertainment district in the 1920s and 1930s. See the Arkansas PBS film Dream Land or read about West Ninth Street
• Tulsa's Black Wall Street as it was
• Defunct Confederate Memorials in the US
• Ilwaco Railway and Navigation Company
• Auto Trails - Many highways in the old Auto Trails system need to be mapped

See also

• Quick OHM Map Links – visit some of the best-mapped sites in OpenHistoricalMap
• Resources – imagery and other online resources that are useful to multiple projects in general
• Reuse – instructions on incorporating OpenHistoricalMap data into your own creative project and some examples

External links

• OpenHistoricalMap user diaries