Maps of the Bluegrass & Nashville Basin
Historical maps can tell us a lot not only about where things are on the planet, but also our attitudes toward landscapes.
The wonderful David Rumsey Map Collection provides an opportunity to view a large number of maps since the very beginning of exploration of North America. The David Rumsey maps are georectifiied, meaning that they have been carefully overlaid on current maps such as Google Earth so that latitude and longitude are approximately correct. This allows us to compare the remarkable accuracy of historical maps.
The collection of maps below was imported from the David Rumsey Map Collection, overlaid on Google Earth and focused on the Bluegrass. Click on the maps for a larger view or a slideshow.
Bluegrass Map 1733, Henry Popple Bluegrass Map, 1786, Thomas Pownall Bluegrass Map 1811, Aaron Arrowsmith Bluegrass Map 1816, John Melish Bluegrass Map 1819 Arron Arrowsmith The Bluegrass in 1823 by Henry S. Tanner Bluegrass Map, 1823, John Melish Bluegrass Map 1827, Phillippe Vandermaelen Bluegrass Map 1823, Sephen Long, Edwin Jones Bluegrass Map 1839, David Burr Bluegrass Map 1867, US General Land Office The Bluegrass in Google Earth