Exhibit Overview

The St. Louis Public LIbrary present "Mapf of Missouri" illustrating the many ways maps convey times, places, and events. Approximately 100 maps of Missouri cities, towns, counties and the state are included in the exhibit. Most of the maps were created between the beginning of the nineteenth through the early twentieth century and appeared as single sheet maps or sections of atlases. Maps for this exhibit were chosen to represent various types of maps, subjects, time periods, and the aesthetic appearance of the maps themselves.

Funding for this exhibit was provided by the Institute of Museum and Library Services and the Missouri State Library.

The exhibit includes maps in seven categories:

  • Browse through the Cities, Towns, and Counties or General sections to see what places like Webster Groves, Joplin, St. Joseph, St. Louis and the state of Missouri looked like over 100 years ago.
  • Look at the maps in the Discovery & Exploration or Military, Battle & Campaign sections to imagine yourself exploring Missouri and participating in a Civil War battle.
  • Use maps found in the Cultural Landscape and Conservation & Environment sections to gain a better understanding about the impact of Missouri resources and past events on today’s development.
  • Experience the growth and expansion of Missouri during the 1800s as depicted by maps in the Transportation & Communication section.

Other Suggested Resources

Exhibit visitors are reminded that there are many excellent websites that provide access to other historic maps of Missouri. The following are recommended:

  • Library of Congress’ American Memory Project – The Maps Collection focuses on Americana and cartographic treasures of the Library of Congress. These images were created from maps and atlases and, in general, are restricted to items that are not covered by copyright protection. Note that the "Maps of Missouri" exhibit adopted the same categories as LC.
  • Kansas City Public Library – The Kansas City Public Library’s digitized map collection focuses on the Kansas City metropolitan area, but includes several Missouri maps from the 19th century.
  • Perry-Castaneda Library Map Collection Historic maps of Missouri are housed in this collection at the University of Texas (Austin).

Exhibit Credits

The St. Louis Public Library wishes to acknowledge the support of the Institute of Museum and Library Services and the Missouri State Library in the development of this digital collection of historic maps.

Contributors to the "Maps of Missouri" exhibit are: Joe Winkler (Manager, Research Collections), Anne Watts (Special Projects Librarian), and staff from the Missouri Library Network Corporation.

Contact Us for additional information about the St. Louis Public Library's Map Collection, use of the maps contained in the "Maps of Missouri" exhibit, or technical specifications about the images.