Maps of census districts?

[Adam J]

I recently discovered (with a bit of excitement) a web site (http://www.earthpoint.us/Townships.aspx) which converts Township/Range/Section information (e.g., from land grant records) into coordinates that can be plotted in Google Earth. This has really helped me to better understand and visualize the land my ancestors settled in the mid-to-late 1800s.

It got me wondering if there is any similar resource for mapping historical census districts/precincts. For example, one of my ancestral families is listed on the census for the "4th Precinct" of Henry County, Alabama in 1870. Being a rural area, there were no street names or numbers to be listed, and the Henry County of that era has since been divided into two separate counties. Is there any resource which can help me to determine where in modern-day geography that precinct would lie? I don't need to pinpoint a precise parcel of land, but a general outline of the precinct would be nice. So far my googling has turned up nothing useful.

[Steve W. Jackson]

You might like to be aware of the University of Alabama's Web Site for interesting mapping information. Their Cartographic Research Lab has published historical volumes with cemetery and place locations. Of particular interest for seeing county boundaries over time, visit http://alabamamaps.ua.edu/contemporarymaps/alabama/historical/index.html. I learned by looking there that Houston County was formed from the lower portion of Houston County in 1903.

I too have been hoping to come across something that might provide insight into the boundaries of precincts, beats, enumeration districts, or whatever other terms have been used in censuses for my Alabama ancestry. So far I've found none. But I have noted that many times you can look at the pages preceding or following one for a given family and will occasionally find the name of some road in a rural area. I found the families of my paternal grandparents living and working a farm together in Elmore County, telling me they had known each other as children. And the census image showed the name of a road which still exists on modern maps, so that I could at least get a reasonable approximation of the area where they lived. Perhaps there will be something similar in at least some of the Henry County censuses you're seeking.

You might also take a look at other information on the census pages, such as the other wards or districts or beats or other term. In central Alabama, many of those bear the names of places still in existence, helping to give an idea where surrounding areas are located.

HTH.

= Steve =

[theKiwi]

If you look at the actual census rolls of film, there are rolls that have this information on them. And one I found for Mississippi was even in colour.

I found these at the Library of Michigan in the vast collection of many thousands of rolls of US Federal Census microfilms they hold - as far as I know it's a complete set.

So if you're near, or can get to a library that has an extensive/complete collection of the US Federal Census microfilms you might find what you're looking for.

Roger

[ByronSpoon]

Following up on Roger's suggestion, although I haven't ordered these myself, here's a couple of references that may help you identify what microfilm(s) to order via inter-library-loan from your local library (many libraries may charge a small fee) through an LDS Family History Center (FHC). Or you could go to an LDS FHC directly and view the microfilms without a fee.

This link presents an overview to the census publication microfilm series T1224 containing enumeration district descriptions and maps (I found this by googling for the words: census enumeration district map):
--> http://www.us-census.org/research/ed-maps.htm

And this link will give you a list of which specific microfilm roll in the T1224 series contains the enumeration district descriptions/maps for a given state and census year (I found this by googling for T1224):
--> www.archives.gov/research/microfilm/t1224.pdf

[Adam J]

Thanks for all of the suggestions so far. I do live near the Boston NARA branch and a local FHC, so I might have luck with the T1224 films.