What does the Atlas cover?
The Atlas describes and maps every change in the boundaries of all United States counties from the early 1600s to 2000. In addition, the atlas compiles and maps all changes in colonial or territorial and state boundaries, including the evolution of the states, plus county name changes, unsuccessful proposed counties, and attachments of unorganized counties and non-county areas to operational counties. In most cases, a separate map is available for each different county configuration.
Why are counties important?
In all states but Alaska, which technically has no counties, the judicial system is administered by counties. Counties administer many of the 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.
This information is an invaluable resource for people seeking records of past events, trying to interpret historical data like census returns, and working on state and local history. See, for example, the case of Portage Co., Wis. The history of county development is important in fields as varied as history, geography, politics, genealogy, law, economics, demography, and other subjects.
What makes this atlas different from others?
Over a dozen features distinguish the volumes of this Atlas from other compilations.
- All state and county boundary changes—unrivaled historical and geographic completeness.
- Modern base maps from the U.S. Geological Survey—most of them at the scale of 8 miles per inch, accurate and precise, make it easy to relate places to counties and past to present.
- A separate map for nearly every different county configuration—promotes clarity and ease of use.
- State-level county outline map for every colonial/territorial, state, and federal census—available nowhere else.
- Attachments to operational counties (unorganized counties and non-county areas)—never before compiled or mapped.
- Original research in primary sources—unlike most reference works.
- Primary sources cited for every boundary change—unmatched documentation.
- Area in square miles for every county configuration—available nowhere else.
- Information organized two ways, by date and by county—unmatched flexibility.
- Two indexes—one for counties (in the table of contents) and one for place names.
- Special sections—as needed to clarify data on states and counties (e.g., history of state evolution in the Old Northwest Territory).
- Locator maps on county map pages—show each county's location within the state.
- Separate volume for nearly every state—maximum convenience.