From roots-in@irc.rootsweb.com Wed Oct 11 09:14:56 2000 Received: from newmail.rootsweb.com (newmail.rootsweb.com [63.92.80.103]) by lists6.rootsweb.com (8.10.1/8.10.1) with ESMTP id e9BGEum05816; Wed, 11 Oct 2000 09:14:56 -0700 Received: from irc.rootsweb.com (irc.rootsweb.com [63.92.80.126]) by newmail.rootsweb.com (8.10.1/8.10.1) with ESMTP id e9BGEuA04302 for ; Wed, 11 Oct 2000 09:14:56 -0700 Received: (from roots-in@localhost) by irc.rootsweb.com (8.9.3/8.9.3) id JAA15003 for roots-approved@rootsweb.com; Wed, 11 Oct 2000 09:14:56 -0700 Received: from lists6.rootsweb.com (lists6.rootsweb.com [63.92.80.125]) by irc.rootsweb.com (8.9.3/8.9.3) with ESMTP id GAA14842 for ; Wed, 11 Oct 2000 06:55:44 -0700 Received: (from slist@localhost) by lists6.rootsweb.com (8.10.1/8.10.1) id e9BDti406664 for roots-in@irc.rootsweb.com; Wed, 11 Oct 2000 06:55:44 -0700 X-Envelope-From: altaf@world-net.net Wed Oct 11 06:55:44 2000 Received: from newmail.rootsweb.com (newmail.rootsweb.com [63.92.80.103]) by lists6.rootsweb.com (8.10.1/8.10.1) with ESMTP id e9BDtim06652 for ; Wed, 11 Oct 2000 06:55:44 -0700 Received: from ns1.world-net.net (root@ns1.world-net.net [204.57.72.18]) by newmail.rootsweb.com (8.10.1/8.10.1) with ESMTP id e9BDtiA23288 for ; Wed, 11 Oct 2000 06:55:44 -0700 Received: from world-net.net (s2p1-11.world-net.net [207.71.22.11]) by ns1.world-net.net (8.8.6/8.8.6.Beta3) with ESMTP id IAA08630 for ; Wed, 11 Oct 2000 08:56:06 -0500 (CDT) Message-ID: <39E4715E.288007B@world-net.net> Date: Wed, 11 Oct 2000 08:55:42 -0500 From: Alta Flynt X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.72 [en] (Win95; U) X-Accept-Language: en MIME-Version: 1.0 To: Roots-L Digest Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Sender: roots-in@irc.rootsweb.com Subject: [ROOTS-L] My map substitute Ok, I admit for some things there is no substitute for a good map, but for those of us with old eyes trying to read all the teeny-tiny print of small town names on a map - even with a magnifying glass - can be extremely frustrating. I use the GNIS page . I can put in a town name and the state and get the county it is in, and a map of the surrounding area. I can put in a feature type such as "cemetery" and put in a state name or county and state, and get a list of the cemeteries in that area. There is a similar site for Canada . This is the English page but it is also in French. The big trouble I have found with the GNIS page is that the spelling has to be correct. It just won't guess what you mean. When I have a name that I think the spelling may be wrong, I use the 1895 Atlas . This site has an alphabetical list of towns for each state and I can figure out the right spelling. This site has very good state and county maps - nice and big and easy to read. It's not much help if you're looking for something in a state that didn't exist in 1895 but for the earlier states it's a wonderful help. Then for a quick and easy way to put the town in perspective in today's surroundings, and in an easy to read map, I use MapQuest or MapBlast . There are other similar sites. I just ask for driving directions from a nearby city and get all the details. I even located the small villages in Italy where my grandparents were born using MapBlast. They didn't show on any of the atlases I tried - even the good ones at the public library. I hope all this helps someone find just the place they were looking for. Alta