TopoView for Browsing and Downloading USGS Topographic Maps

The USGS National Map program, working with the National Geologic Map Database (NGMDB) project, has launched a new version of the application named TopoView, which we described while it was in beta, for exploring, viewing  and downloading the more than 178,000 USGS digitized legacy topographic maps from the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection.  TopoView is now fully available and given its holdings, we think that it warrants full investigation by the GIS professional.  I have created a video that walks you through the process of using the site.

 

USGS TopoView viewer and downloader for historical USGS Topographic Maps.

These scanned USGS quadrangle maps, georeferenced at various scales, date from the late 1880’s to 2010. For more information on the effort to capture the complete map collection, see the Historical Topo Map Collection web site.   For more information, see the guidelines on “A New Way to Find Old Maps“.

An alternative tool to examine historical USGS topographic maps is the Esri USGS Historical Map Viewer.  TopoView and the Historical Map Viewer use similar technologies from Esri’s ArcGIS Online and each have advantages.  TopoView allows geotiff and other download formats and provides an easier way to select specific maps.  The Historical Map Viewer has a time scale across the bottom and its ability to overlay maps of different years make it a useful teaching tool for examining land use change over time. Try them both and we look forward to your comments below.