Digital Maps Online

Historical Maps and Charts

Library of Congress Digital Map Collections

U.S. Congressional Serial Set Maps - Provides pdf files of fragile, hard to locate Serial Set maps accessed by state and geographic location.  Access limited  to LSU students, faculty, and staff.

The National Historical Geographic Information System (NHGIS) - "Provides, free of charge, aggregate census data and GIS-compatible boundary files for the United States between 1790 and 2010."

USGS Historical Topographic Maps - Including Louisiana and Mississippi 

NOAA Historical Coastal and Mississippi River Charts - Choose "Louisiana" under "Select a State" or enter the chart number.

NOAA Historical Shoreline Survey Viewer   - a Google Earth based viewer for the Coast & Geodetic  Survey and succussor agencies' shoreline surveys back to 1841. Shoreline surveys (coastal surveys,  T-Sheets, or T- Surveys) refer to topographic sheets compiled from maps derived in the field with a plane table, in the office from aerial photographs, or a combination of the two methods.  These shoreline surveys are the authoritative definition of the U.S. high-water line.  This surveys are the first cartographic depiction of field data and are primary sources used to draft nautical charts.   Includes descriptions and links to NOAA's T-sheet, nautical chart, aerial imagery, Lidar, and satellite imagery online collections.

The direct link to  NOAA's georeferenced T-sheet  viewer.

Descriptions and links to NOAA's T-sheet, nautical chart, aerial imagery, Lidar, and satellite imagery online collections.

The CIC has copies of many Louisiana shoreline surveys on mylar available for researchers to view in the collection.  

Color Sanborn Fire Insurance maps from the Library of Congress -  a searchable database of  Sanborn fire insurance maps in the Library of Congress Geography and Map Division.  Includes states other than Louisiana.

Louisiana Maps

Louisiana Department of Transportation & Development - Maps and GIS data portal

2015 Louisiana US Topo GeoPDFs  - Easier access on the LSU Atlas site for when the USGS site is unavailable

Louisiana Office of State Lands - Maps and information on state-owned land by parish, off-shore zones included

U.S. Department of Agriculture Soils Surveys for Louisiana- Downloadable PDFs of  the Parish Soil Survey books

Louisiana Floodplain Maps - Maps and information regarding floodplains in Louisiana provided by LSU Agcenter.

Louisiana Sanborn Fire Insurance maps - LOUIS database of Sanborn maps of Louisiana cities. Access limited to LSU students, faculty, and staff.

Color Sanborn Fire Insurance maps from the Library of Congress -  a searchable database of  Sanborn fire insurance maps in the Library of Congress Geography and Map Division.  Includes states other than Louisiana.

Ecoregions of Louisiana - Louisiana "ecoregions as defined by phenomena including geology, physiography, vegetation, climate, soils, land use, wildlife, and hydrology." Provided by the EPA in PDF and as GIS files.

Louisiana Coastal Protection & Restoration Web Site - Land loss maps

Risk Mapping, Assessment, and Planning (RiskMAP) for Region VI - Flood studies for Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas from FEMA's RAMPP - Risk Assessment, Mapping, and Planning Partners.

Map Viewers

Color Landform Atlas of the United States - U.S. state maps showing landforms with or without county boundaries

MapQuest Road Maps - View large scale U.S. street maps based on street address and zip code

The University of Texas at Austin, Perry-Castañeda Library - View CIA Maps, Maps in the News, world cities and countries

Earth Explorer - Query and order satellite images, aerial photographs, and cartographic products through the U.S. Geological Survey.

 

US Maps

U.S. Department of Agriculture Soil Surveys for  the United States- Downloadable PDFs of  the County Soil Survey books

U.S. Department of Agriculture Web Soil Surveys- Web Soil Survey (WSS) provides soil data and information produced by the National Cooperative Soil Survey. It has soil maps and data available online for more than 95 percent of the nation’s counties and anticipates having 100 percent in the near future. 

FEMA Flood Maps and dFIRMs - Nationwide collection of official digital flood insurance rate maps created by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Environmental Sensitivity Maps - Environmental Sensitivity  Maps provide a concise summary of coastal resources that are at risk if an oil spill occurs nearby.

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Surf Your Watershed

U.S. Geological Survey US Topo GeoPDFs - for the United States

Cartographic Materials Citation Style Guide

Recommended Best Practices in Citation of Cartographic Materials – Downloadable pdf from the Association of Canadian Map Libraries and Archives (ACMLA).  Provides the basic citation form and many citation examples for maps, maps in publications, globes, aerial photographs, satellite imagery, GIS files, and other digital maps.  Web page version.