Rowland in the David Rumsey Map Collection

If you haven’t seen the David Rumsey Map Collection for Genealogy, the fact that you can now search for ‘Rowland’ on the maps may entice you to take a look. This historical collection contains more than 129,000 maps. All of them are online, and all are free to use by genealogists. I have long been an avid fan of maps, beginning with our family’s annual 1400-mile round trip from Ohio to Missouri. Barely 10 years old, I would call ‘dibs’ on the front seat and track every town, river, and state line crossing we encountered using free 1960s-era gas-station state maps.

Later in life, as a genealogist, I discovered there were also historic land-ownership maps in addition to state and county road maps. I was thrilled the first time I found a map showing one of my ancestor’s farms. When the David Rumsey Map Collection recently announced its new search by Text-on-Maps feature, I had to give it a try. I was not disappointed.

My first search was ‘Rowland’ and it was found on 689 maps.

My second search was for ‘Roland’ and it was found on 774 maps.

A search for ‘Rowlands’ revealed 164 maps. I even tried ‘Rowlandsville’ and it was found on 25 maps. Clicking on any thumbnail image brings up the entire map so you can see your search term in the context of the surrounding area.

Many historic maps include drawings of homes and buildings. The new Text-on-Maps feature found this drawing of the residence of William Rowland (1796-1871) of Paris Township, Portage County, Ohio in 1874.

The John Tallis 1838 engraved map of Hatton Garden in London depicts buildings on both sides of the street, including the Rowland Macassar Oil store and warehouse of Alexander Rowland & Son, the famous barbers of London.

It also includes a close-up view of the enterprise at 20 Hatton Garden where the front of the building proudly proclaims “Patronized by Her Majesty.”

Indexing of the maps is an ongoing effort, although they haven’t reached the moon yet. That’s okay because I took it upon myself to find Rowland Crater for you on the 1979 National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Lunar Chart.

The new search by Text-on-Maps feature can be found on the David Rumsey Map Collection homepage.

There are many ways to view and search the collection, and the various methods are described on the View Collection page. Enjoy your visit! Be sure to let us know what you find in the maps.

Here are a couple of previous articles that used land-ownership maps to highlight Rowland-owned lands.