I'm pulling this one out of my secret bag of tricks. I've used it for a long time but for those of you that are also into the hobby, I thought I would share it with you. I'm not going to get to come to west or middle Tn to hunt, so you guys can knock yourself out.
Maps are a huge part in researching new sites. Especially if you are targeting Civil War relics. In the past, the hard part about maps was always trying to locate them....then overlaying them to current data to find where the sites were. Important features such as bridges, roads, churches, home sites, etc are simply lost to time. Roads have changed positions, even creeks have moved.
A tool I have used for a long time that does the guess work out of a lot of data, is the TopoView website. This site allows you to click on the area you are interested in, and it shows all the maps in their system available for the area. DO NOT overlook the topo maps from the early 1900s, as this would have been before most road construction and paving. Meaning...that most of the roads shown, were the same roads used in the 1800s and would have been used for troop movements. The 1900s maps also show locations for home sites, churches, etc. Most of these maps will also have 1890s maps which are also VERY useful.
The cool thing about this site I am going to give the link to, is that for all the areas, you can download the maps for free in KMZ format. What is so special about KMZ? It is recognized by Google Earth and already does the work for you in overlaying the map to current data point. This is SCARY accurate. From there, you can toggle back and forth between the map and current satellite data and mark things....the marks will stay present as you toggle back and forth so you can see whether the site has been destroyed, or is still there. Best of all...it gives you GPS coordinates so you can plug into a GPS or your phone and go straight to em.
Go check it out and have fun. You'd be surprised at how much the areas you are in has changed.
ngmdb.usgs.gov
Maps are a huge part in researching new sites. Especially if you are targeting Civil War relics. In the past, the hard part about maps was always trying to locate them....then overlaying them to current data to find where the sites were. Important features such as bridges, roads, churches, home sites, etc are simply lost to time. Roads have changed positions, even creeks have moved.
A tool I have used for a long time that does the guess work out of a lot of data, is the TopoView website. This site allows you to click on the area you are interested in, and it shows all the maps in their system available for the area. DO NOT overlook the topo maps from the early 1900s, as this would have been before most road construction and paving. Meaning...that most of the roads shown, were the same roads used in the 1800s and would have been used for troop movements. The 1900s maps also show locations for home sites, churches, etc. Most of these maps will also have 1890s maps which are also VERY useful.
The cool thing about this site I am going to give the link to, is that for all the areas, you can download the maps for free in KMZ format. What is so special about KMZ? It is recognized by Google Earth and already does the work for you in overlaying the map to current data point. This is SCARY accurate. From there, you can toggle back and forth between the map and current satellite data and mark things....the marks will stay present as you toggle back and forth so you can see whether the site has been destroyed, or is still there. Best of all...it gives you GPS coordinates so you can plug into a GPS or your phone and go straight to em.
Go check it out and have fun. You'd be surprised at how much the areas you are in has changed.
Get Maps
Explore, interact, and download USGS topographic maps free of charge from topoView.
ngmdb.usgs.gov
