Worldwide, strongest for the Americas
David Rumsey Map Collection
One of the largest online collections of historical maps, free to explore
davidrumsey.comOpen
Historical & Old Maps
Libraries and archives have scanned hundreds of thousands of historical maps. The best collections are georeferenced, so you can lay a map from 1850 over today's streets and see exactly what has changed.
19 maps · 16 completely free
Worldwide
Old Maps Online
Search engine for historical maps held by libraries worldwide
oldmapsonline.orgOpen
Great Britain and beyond
National Library of Scotland Maps
Historical maps of Scotland, Britain and the world, including side-by-side viewers
maps.nls.ukOpen
Worldwide, strongest for the US
Library of Congress Maps
Tens of thousands of digitised maps from the US national library
loc.govOpen
Worldwide
OpenHistoricalMap
An OpenStreetMap for history: map the world as it was at any date
openhistoricalmap.orgOpen
Switzerland
map.geo.admin.ch
Switzerland's federal map viewer with the famous Swiss topographic maps
map.geo.admin.chOpen
France
Géoportail
France's official map portal: IGN maps, aerial photos, cadastre and history
geoportail.gouv.frOpen
United States
USGS topoView
Every historical USGS topographic map, free to view and download
ngmdb.usgs.govOpen
United States
Historic Aerials
Historical aerial photos and topographic maps of the United States
historicaerials.comOpen
Central Europe
Mapire
Historical maps of the Habsburg Empire and Europe, georeferenced
mapire.euOpen
Japan
Konjaku Map on the Web
Compare old Japanese topographic maps with today, side by side
ktgis.netOpen
United Kingdom
Rail Map Online
Interactive map of Britain's railways, past and present
railmaponline.comOpen
Worldwide
Allmaps
Open-source tools for georeferencing and viewing digitised old maps
allmaps.orgOpen
Great Britain
Britain from Above
Aerial photographs of Britain from 1919 to 1953
britainfromabove.org.ukOpen
Worldwide, strongest for New England
Leventhal Map & Education Center
Historical maps of Boston, New England and the world, with exhibitions
leventhalmap.orgOpen
New York and beyond
NYPL Map Warper
Historical maps of New York and beyond, aligned to the modern map by volunteers
maps.nypl.orgOpen
Great Britain
old-maps.co.uk
Historical Ordnance Survey maps of Great Britain by address
old-maps.co.ukOpen
Worldwide
Barry Lawrence Ruderman Antique Maps
Huge catalogue of antique maps with detailed descriptions
raremaps.comOpen
Russia and nearby countries
Retromap
Old maps of Russian and other cities aligned with modern maps
retromap.ruOpen
No maps match this filter.
How to choose
Start with search engines across collections, such as Old Maps Online, then go to the big archives: David Rumsey, the Library of Congress and national libraries.
For local history, historical topographic maps and aerial photos are the most useful: Ordnance Survey maps at the National Library of Scotland, USGS topoView, Konjaku Map for Japan, Mapire for Central Europe.
Check the licence before reusing images; many are free for personal use but not always for commercial use.