An important and unique project to preserve and make accessible historic New England topographic maps through scanned images has begun by Meredith Ricker of the Government Documents Department at the University of New Hampshire (UNH). Dating from as early as 1890 to as late as the 1950s, there are currently over 300 maps available. This is combined with collecting and preservation efforts as UNH seeks New Hampshire map donations and apply archival techniques to our old or brittle maps. Friend of the Library, Christopher Marshall of Amherst, started scanning New Hampshire maps in his attempt to locate abandoned railroad right of ways in the state. The images have been collected from a number of libraries throughout the state including the collection at the UNH's Dimond Library. The project will be expanded to include maps from the Town and City Atlas of New Hampshire, 1892, which is especially exciting since these often show town centers and individual houses with the owner's name.

UNH is currently working to complete coverage of northern New England, and will then move to complete coverage of the southern New England states. Your comments and suggestions are welcomed. For more information check out our web page.