Vintage Maps of America 🗺️

A visual journey through our nation's history

By Elizabeth Poland Shugg

Colonial era map courtesy of VintageImageryX

Vintage maps command respect. They invite us to consider what lies between their borders. And, they issue a humble calling:

“Imagine this land before your predecessors discovered it. Appreciate and care for what remains.”

Those of us who live in what was once Colonial America serve as caretakers of sacred land. Every year on July Fourth, we celebrate its transformation from British provinces into an independent nation.

America’s earliest roads—many of which now operate as interstates, but some that wind pristinely through generational farmland and small town centers—beckon us to explore them. Vintage maps help us find their treasures.

In celebration of America’s 248th birthday, let’s explore some early maps that visually tell the story of how our country evolved into one of the world’s greatest nations.

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The Great Wagon Road

There’s one road that outranks most of our nation’s earliest thoroughfares and is considered the granddaddy of them all. Tom Poland’s feature in our Summer 2024 issue shares how the Great Wagon Road—also known as the Great Philadelphia Road—helped settle the South.