he Atlas of Historical County Boundaries is a project of the William M. Scholl Center for Family and Community History at the Newberry Library in Chicago. It is a reference work designed to provide information about the creation and boundary changes of every county in the United States, from the earliest county creation in the 1600s to 2000.

Following is a detailed description and explanation of different aspects of the Atlas. Please click on a topic listed below or scroll down the page.

Importance of Counties In all states but Alaska, which technically has no counties, the judicial system is administered by counties. Counties administer most state laws and, in the process, they collect large quantities of important information, such as records of births, marriages, deaths, probated wills, real-estate transfers, and voting. Counties have been the principal geographic units for the collection and aggregation of data from colonial/territorial, state, and federal censuses, especially counts of population. Outside densely populated cities, counties have served as the building blocks for congressional districts and for colonial, territorial, and state legislative districts. Not surprisingly, in the nineteenth century they became the grassroots centers for the development of political parties.

Utility and Users. The Atlas is meant to be a resource for people seeking records of past events, trying to interpret historical data like census returns, and working on state and local history. The interests of those potential users range from history to geography, genealogy, politics, law, economics, demography, and myriad other subjects.

Printed Books and Cartographic Data Files. The goal of the Atlas project always has been to disseminate the county-boundary information in maps and text through both printed books and electronic media. Because of the high cost and relatively immature state of computer-mapping technology when the project commenced in 1988, the initial product was printed volumes. In 2001 the emphasis shifted to electronic products. Those are cartographic data files for use in geographic information systems (GIS) and as digital maps and text on the internet (Inquiries, comments, and suggestions concerning the digital products are especially welcome). Directions for contacting the project, plus a list of volumes published so far and the status of states in progress, are available elsewhere at this web site.

Atlas Content. For each county or equivalent the Atlas provides chronologies of changes, references to the authorities for those changes (compilation is based upon original research in the laws and other primary sources), county areas in square miles resulting from each change, and a map of every different configuration. In the books most maps are at the scale of 8 miles per inch and display a great deal of geographic detail, including the towns within the county's jurisdiction at any time.

In addition to the basic boundary information, the Atlas includes the attachments to organized counties of unorganized counties and non-county areas and full data on unsuccessful proposals for new counties. Changes in county names also are included. County equivalents, such as the "parishes" of Louisiana and the independent cities of Maryland, Missouri, Nevada, and Virginia, receive the same treatment as conventional counties.

States. All information is organized by state. Because counties are subdivisions of states, the Atlas also provides complete information about the colonial, territorial, state, and national boundaries of the United States. In some cases, that requires a special chronology and set of maps to depict the evolution of the state.

Subject Areas Defined. The subject area for each state is defined two ways. First is every county creation or change that occurred within the state's present boundaries, regardless of the nation or state responsible. Second is every county creation or change authorized by the state, regardless of whether the event was inside or outside its current boundaries. This comprehensive definition insures that such unusual phenomena as the Iowa counties originally created by Michigan Territory appear in both the Iowa and Michigan volumes and the Connecticut county of Westmoreland, which controlled northeastern Pennsylvania for many years, appears in the volumes for Connecticut and Pennsylvania.

Censuses. Special attention is given to providing information and maps that match censuses of population, sources of historical data that are important to social scientists, genealogists, and many others. For each state there is, in each book, a table of censuses listing all population censuses or equivalents—colonial or territorial and state censuses in addition to the better known federal enumerations—and describing the nature of the data available from each one. The table is followed by a series of small-scale census outline maps covering every census from which data are available today.

Indexes and Other Aids for Readers. Aids to readers include both an index of county names that is built into the table of contents and, in most books, an index of place names that guides readers to cities and towns plotted on the full-scale maps. A comprehensive bibliography of all materials used to compile the data and to plot the historical county lines supplements a table of abbreviations used in the text and tables and another table for the dates and authorities of county creations. At the beginning of each printed volume a two-page spread demonstrates how the different parts of the book complement each other and "How to Use This Atlas."

Gifts and Financial Support. This project is sponsored and partly funded by The Newberry Library. Principal funding has been provided by grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities, an independent federal agency. Additional funding has been provided by a significant number of other individuals and organizations. The Honor Roll of Financial Supporters, listing all donors, and a form for those wishing to make a gift to the Atlas are available elsewhere at this web site.

Publisher.The publisher is Charles Scribner's Sons. Scribner's, whose home office is located New York City, is now a subsidiary of Gale Research. Volumes of the Atlas may be purchased by mailing an order to Charles Scribner's Sons, c/o Gale Group Order Dept., 27500 Drake Rd., Farmington Hills, MI 48331 or by telephoning 800-877-GALE (800-877-4253). Scribner's web site is www.mlr.com/scribner.

How to Contact the Atlas Project. Your comments and questions are welcome. Please contact John H. Long, Editor, Atlas of Historical County Boundaries Project, The Newberry Library, 60 W. Walton St., Chicago, IL 60610-3380. Tel.: 312-255-3602. E-mail: longj@newberry.org

Sample Pages. Click on the links below to view sample pages from the Atlas.


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Last Updated: 25 March 2006