Sometimes, maps are created in civil lawsuits, for example in boundary disputes. I love these maps for the details they provide, not just about the location but about the people in the community. This week we are looking at a map of Bodegraven that shows the houses around the church in 1664. The map was originally part of a law suit, but archivists in the 1800s separated all the maps from the rest of the cases to put in a map collection. That collection of Domestic Maps Hingman has a lot of … [Read more...]
Map of the Week – Map of St. Eustatius, early 1700s
8 April 2024 by 1 Comment
Saint Eustatius in the West Indies is one of the Netherlands Antilles. In the 1700s, it was a colony of the Netherlands. This manuscript maps shows the island in the early 1700s and marks all the plantation owners on the map. The archival description says this map dates from the 18th century. Based on research on the island I recognize several of the names as plantation owners in the early 1700s. Translated legend with abbreviations resolved: A. The Lower Village B. The Upper … [Read more...]
Map of the Week: Brielle circa 1566
1 April 2024 by 3 Comments
Around 1566, Jacobus van Deventer was charged by the King of Spain and ruler of the Habsburg empire that included the Netherlands to create maps of all the major cities in the country. This was shortly before the outbreak of the Eighty Years War, which started when several noblemen abjured the King as their overlord to form the independent Republic of the United Netherlands. Maps of Jacobus van Deventer can be found in collections of different archives in the Netherlands and Spain. Among the … [Read more...]
Map of the Week – Municipality Nederweert, 1866
25 March 2024 by 1 Comment
Between 1865-1868, Jacob Kuyper published a series of atlases with municipal maps. These show the location of all the hamlets, villages, and larger towns in the municipality, as well as the main roads and railroads. The Kuyper maps are often available at the websites of archives or via Wikimedia Commons. Here is an example of such a map, showing Nederweert in the province of Limburg in 1866. You can see the village itself was small, and crossed by two canals. The railroad ran through the … [Read more...]
Map of the Week: Gouda in 1649
18 March 2024 by Leave a Comment
In 1649, one of the most famous mapmakers in the Netherlands, Joan Blaeu published his atlas Tooneel der Steden [approx: Display of Cities]. This map shows Gouda, famous for its cheese market. The entire atlas is online at the Universiteit Utrecht. … [Read more...]
Map of the Week: Minute Map of Bredevoort, 1832
11 March 2024 by 1 Comment
When the cadastral administration was introduced in 1832, maps were made of the entire country. Each municipality was divided into sections. All the plots in a section were mapped in one or more sheets. The map we see today is for Bredevoort, a fortified town in Gelderland. You can find the minute maps for the whole country at the Cultural Heritage Service website or you can read more about cadastral overview maps and minute maps. … [Read more...]
Map of the Week: Friesland in 1718
4 March 2024 by Leave a Comment
This week, we are looking at a map of Friesland from 1718. In 1682, Bernardus Schotanus à Sterringa was hired to create maps of all the municipalities in Friesland. A second improved version of this series was compiled by François Halma. He added an overview map that showed all the municipalities, shown below. You can consult the maps of individual municipalities on the website Friesland op de Kaart. … [Read more...]
Map of the Week: Texel, circa 1645
26 February 2024 by 1 Comment
In this new series we will look at a different map every week. We kick off the series with a beautiful manuscript map of the island of Texel from 1645. Many ships departing to New Netherland or other Dutch colonies would lie on the roads of Texel to take in fresh water and wait for favorable winds before crossing the ocean. … [Read more...]
