Re: SOT 7.5' topo scans at Archive.org

robcar wrote:
On Feb 20, 8:45 am, e...@xxxxxxxxxxxx wrote:
On Feb 20, 2:38 am, robcar <robc...@xxxxxxx> wrote:





On Feb 18, 1:13 pm, e...@xxxxxxxxxxxx wrote:
Marc -
Free downloads of full-sheet images aren't new, either. They've been
available from the US Department of Agriculture for several years, and
their collection is more complete and up-to-date than the archive.org
version (which has a lot of maps, but is certainly not the "entire
maps for the whole series nationwide"). The topo maps are only one of
many free datasets that can be searched for and downloaded at the NRCS
Data Gateway site, athttp://datagateway.nrcs.usda.gov
- Ed
Ed McNierney
TopoZoneMap Guy
Now, when will all of the historic editions of each 7.5 minute quad
across the country be available on the internet? I still have to
trudge to the nearest university map collection when I do my research
on the history of highway routings. Sure would be nice to be able to
do it all from my computer....
Well, how much would you pay for that service? There are lots of
people interested in historic topos, but acquiring them and scanning
them is a very expensive proposition. I don't know of anyone who
thinks that it's economically feasible to spend that much money to set
up something that perhaps a lot of people want but that (we think)
very few people would actually pay for. Just as a ballpark figure,
even if you acquired all the map sheets for free you would probably
spend around half a million dollars just to get high-quality,
georeferenced scans made.

- Ed- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

I don't doubt that it's expensive. I'd be willing to pay something
like a hundred bucks/year subscription fee for it, but don't know how
many others would.

Seems to me it is something that USGS should do as a public service at
some point. But I'm sure it's not super high on their list. They
MUST (translate that as "better") have some sort of project to
digitize all of their historic topos simply to preserve the
information for their in-house historical archives, even if they don't
ever make them available to the public via the net. It would be a
dereliction of duty for them not to.

Many map repositories are just that, places where old maps are stored in drawers. I've been to the New Mexico map repository, and that's all it was. There were no large format scanners either, though you could copy an 11 by 17 inch part of a map at 10 cents a page (probably more now, it's been awhile), black and white.

On the other hand, The University of Nevada (Reno) has color scans available over the Internet of the current topo maps for Nevada. I think those topos are free to download (no I don't have the URL, that PC died recently), but I don't know if older quads are available.
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: PoR: No ideal room size
    ... whole globe even, history books cover events over time, dictionaries ... etc) and it can only cover all types of maps if it doesn't cover all ... geographic history of plants and animals. ... Searching a library website for books ...
    (rec.arts.sf.composition)
  • Re: New titles for the K. of Prussia from 1817
    ... when works of history included decent maps as a matter of course. ... Don't get me started on the poor quality of historical maps! ... History Atlas", which while not perfect is pretty darned good for quite ... scanned images of a proper copy, but after waiting for the massive .pdf ...
    (alt.talk.royalty)
  • Missouri Highways - Version 7.6 - and MORE from MO and CA
    ... in historic material with the addition of official state road maps ... Later history is represented by the addition of the ... The Route Log entry for MO 125 was also corrected, ... state road maps also led to corrected entries for original routes 1A, 1C, ...
    (misc.transport.road)
  • Re: Garmin 24K topo maps/Oregon
    ... I use my GPS strictly for crosscountry travel, hiking, fishing, hunting. ... I load waypoints into my GPS with OZI then carry the paper 24K topos with ... The elevation resolution of the standard Garmin topo maps makes them poor ...
    (sci.geo.satellite-nav)
  • Historical and Political Maps of the Modern Age
    ... If you don't know the fine historical maps called HISATLAS, you will discover here a really complete historical atlas covering with great accuracy the world history from 1789 on, to the present. ... Selección de mapas políticos e históricos del mundo desde 1789 y ocasionalmente desde antes, ...
    (soc.culture.usa)