Maps & Cartographic Information: Thematic Maps

Search tips for finding maps, atlases, aerial photos, GIS, and other cartographic materials.

Thematic Maps & the Collection

The University of Washington Map Collection has worldwide coverage of various thematic maps at different scales, with an emphasis on themes related to civil engineering, forest resources, geography, geology, oceanography and urban planning.

Demographic Maps

The United States Census
A wide variety of useful map products is available for download or purchase.
American Factfinder generates reference maps and thematic maps from 2000 Census data.
United Nations ReliefWeb MapCentre
Maps by country or by emergency/disaster.

Environmental Maps

Washington environmental atlas
prepared by Environmental Resources Section, Seattle District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, with assistance of the Institute for Environmental Studies, University of Washington.
Although this map is now dated, it is still useful.

Geologic Maps

Geologic Maps
Generalized geologic map of Seattle and suburban areas
Galster, R.W., and Laprade, W.T.
G4284.S4 C5 1991 .G3 (map)
The accompanying text is filed under the same call number in Maps Vertical Files.
Preliminary geologic map of Seattle and vicinity : Washington
by Howard H. Waldron ... [et al.]
G4284.S4 C5 1962 .G4
USGS I-354

Historic Maps

Historic Maps

Hydrologic Maps

These maps deal with the relationship between the environment and bodies of water, such as in wetlands and flood areas.

Historical changes of shoreline and wetland at eleven major deltas in the Puget Sound region, Washington
by G.C. Bortleson, M.J. Chrzastowski, and A.K. Helgerson
USGS HA-617
National wetlands inventory [Washington]
G4281.D1 s24 .U5
The supplemental text to this series can be found under the same call number in Auxiliary Stacks folio.
Topography and drainage : Seattle
G4284.S4 C2 s9 .S44
This map series covers elevation contours and streams.
Flood insurance rate map
FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency)
These maps show 100-year flood areas. They are filed by county or by city/town name. To find in the catalog, search for
flood adams county maps
flood Seattle map

Nautical and Aeronautical Charts

Nautical and Aeronautical Charts

Property Maps

Property maps show property ownership or building outlines.

Parcel base : Seattle
produced by the Geographic Systems Section of the Seattle Public Utilities.
This map shows land parcel polygons, addresses and building outlines.
King County Parcel Viewer
King County's Parcel Viewer is an interactive web-mapping service that displays property and parcel information. Search an address or click on a parcel to view it's related parcel information.
Kroll Real Estate Atlases for the Pacific Northwest
(Special Collections)
Kroll atlases contain detailed parcel maps that show property lines, tax lot numbers, public parks, utility information, plat names, and many other features.
Metsker Atlases
These atlases are the most complete collection of data for each county (all Washington; some Oregon and Idaho). Each page is a township map covering approximately 36 square miles. Scales vary from 2" to the mile with most counties and 4" to the mile for others in congested areas (1/4 townships). Most atlases do not show complete county coverage due to government holdings, national forest and parks, wilderness areas etc. Property names are provided for owners of five acres or more plus showing smaller lots and plats as well. (Source: Metsker Maps Publishing)
Cadastral Survey Field Notes and Plats for Oregon and Washington (cd-rom)
Also on microfiche. Also available online via the Bureau of Land Management. A cadaster is a public record, survey, or map of the value, extent, and ownership of land as a basis of taxation. Cadastral surveys began in 1851 for the Washington and Oregon areas. They were done by the General Land Office as part of the Federal Public Land Survey System. The microfiche set contains original plat maps that show legal boundary descriptions, and shows terrain and landmarks, such as trees and cabins. Know the township(s) and range(s) for your area of interest.
Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps
The Sanborn map collection consists of a uniform series of large-scale maps, dating from 1867 to the present and depicting the commercial, industrial, and residential sections of some twelve thousand cities and towns in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. The maps were designed to assist fire insurance agents in determining the degree of hazard associated with a particular property and therefore show the size, shape, and construction of dwellings, commercial buildings, and factories as well as fire walls, locations of windows and doors, sprinkler systems, and types of roofs. The maps also indicate widths and names of streets, property boundaries, building use, and house and block numbers. They show the locations of water mains, giving their dimensions, and of fire alarm boxes and hydrants. Sanborn maps are thus an unrivaled source of information about the structure and use of buildings in American cities. Maps also found on microfilm in the Suzzallo Library's Microform department.
Seattle Public Library users may also access them online.
Source of description: UC Berkeley's Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps page.
Washington State public lands quadrangle, 1:100,000 scale planimetric map
Washington State Department of Natural Resources, Division of Engineering, Resource Mapping Section
This series from the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s shows general federal, state or private ownership.

Road Maps

Road Maps

Seismologic Maps

Seismologic maps show earthquake faults and seismic activity.

Seismotectonic map of the Puget Sound region
This map, dating from 1985, shows earthquake faults in this area.
Lifelines and earthquake hazards in the greater Seattle area

Soil Maps

These federal maps are usually published by county and are spread out among different branch libraries.
To find them in the UW Library Catalog, use a Keyword search:
Ex. soil survey AND king county

State soil survey
Forest Land Management Division, Washington State Dept. of Natural Resources
(accompanying volumes with soil descriptions are in Suzzallo/Allen Stacks - S599.W32 S73 1983)
These maps are also known as "state DNRs."
Soil survey: King County Area, Washington
by Dale E. Snyder, Philip S. Gale, and Russell F. Pringle
This set does not include the city of Seattle.

Topographic Maps

Topographic Maps

Urban Planning Maps

Critical areas : Seattle
produced by the Geographic Systems Unit of the Seattle Engineering Department.
This map set shows steep slopes, wetlands, wildlife habitat, etc.
Present land use : Seattle
produced by the Geographic Systems Section of the Seattle Engineering Department
Seattle Department of Construction and Inspections GIS
This online mapping tool is an updated and interactive source for Seattle urban planning. After opening the map, be sure to check the box next to "Environmentally Critical Areas (ECA)" or "Zoning."

General Thematic Maps

National Geographic - Mapping
This site has maps covering a wide range of themes: conservation (environment), topography, historic maps, street maps, and base maps of countries and states. Browse for maps through the interactive service or the print service.
Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection
at University of Texas at Austin. The easiest base maps to use are CIA maps, which can be used without violating copyright. The Perry Castañeda Library Map Collection has many scanned copies of CIA maps that are of better quality than those available on the CIA's website.
Library of Congress Map Collections: 1544 - 2004 online
Although the Library of Congress has converted only a small fraction of its huge cartographic holdings to digital form, it is still an impressive collection. Themes include cities and towns, conservation, military battles, etc. Browse for maps by geographic region, subject, creator, title, or keyword. Unfortunately, it does not appear to be possible to search by date range.

Related Terms & Definitions

A thematic map is simply a map made to reflect a particular theme about a geographic area. Thematic maps can portray physical, social, political, cultural, economic, sociological, agricultural, or any other aspects of a city, state, region, nation, or continent.

Catalog Search Tips: Thematic Maps

Use UW Libraries Search.
In the text box, type in your geographic area and one or more keywords related to your theme and refine your results using the material type "maps."
Ex.
demographic maps: population California
seismologic maps: faults Seattle or earthquakes Seattle
flood insurance maps: flood adams county or flood Seattle
soil maps: soil survey King County
Common topic keywords include the following:
religion
tourist
voting
pollution
population
topographic
military
political
climate
floods
wildlife
wetlands
geology
volcanoes
minerals

landslides
roads

earthquakes

forests

soils
land use
utilities
zoning
zip codes
railroads
coloni** [colonization, colonies]
geopolitics

discovery and exploration

divisions cartography

history

emigration and immigration

navigation

Thematic maps are classified with Library of Congress call numbers and filed in call number order by geographic area. Consult our LC Map Call Numbers Finding Aid (which is also available in several locations around the Map Collection) or the location maps posted on the walls to help you determine call numbers for a particular area of the world.