Frequently Asked Questions

Pastmaps is a husband-and-wife company based in Seattle. Craig handles the software, and Savannah manages our print service. We run it as a labor of love.

Historical maps offer a unique perspective on how places have changed over time. They're used by environmental consultants, surveyors, real estate professionals, genealogists, and hobbyists for everything from site assessments to family history research. Plus, they're just really cool.

Historical maps are always in demand, but finding and working with them was a pain. Craig, an avid metal detectorist, got tired of hunting across scattered government archives and fighting with clunky GIS tools just to overlay a historical map on a modern one. He wanted to build something better — a single place to find, explore, and compare historical maps. And so Pastmaps was born.

Pastmaps offers two things: a digital map exploration platform with tools like opacity comparison, 3D terrain, and satellite/LiDAR layers, and a professional print service where you can order museum-quality prints of any map in our collection.

Click “Log in” in the top right corner of any page. You can sign up with your email address or your Google account. Creating an account is free.

Feel free to email us anytime at hello@pastmaps.com. We're happy to help.

Our collection includes over 185,000 detailed topographic maps from the United States Geological Survey's Historical Topographic Map Collection, spanning more than 150 years. We also offer modern satellite imagery and LiDAR hillshade layers for comparing historical maps with current terrain.

You can search by address, city, county, or state using the search bar at the top of any page. You can also browse nearby maps using the Explore page, which shows maps based on your current location.

We'd love to hear from you! If you have a map that isn't in our collection, reach out to us at hello@pastmaps.com. We can assist with digitizing individual maps or entire collections.

The oldest map in our collection is from 1879!

Pastmaps gives you an interactive map viewer that aligns historical maps with their real-world location on a modern basemap. You can adjust the opacity to compare old and new, switch between different editions of the same area to see how it changed over time, and explore in 3D with terrain elevation. Plus subscribers also get access to high-resolution satellite imagery and LiDAR hillshade layers for revealing hidden ground features like old foundations and roads.

Plus subscribers can download any map in the collection in four formats: KMZ (for Google Earth, Gaia GPS, Avenza Maps, CalTopo, and other GPS apps), GeoPDF (for printing and offline use in Avenza Maps), GeoTIFF (for GIS software like QGIS and ArcGIS), and a JPEG preview (for quick reference). Open any map and look for the Download button in the toolbar, then pick the format that matches the app or tool you want to use.

We're always working on making Pastmaps better. We have a long list of features we're excited about, including annotation tools, project files for saving your work, and expanded map collections beyond USGS. Create a free account to stay in the loop on new releases.

Email us at hello@pastmaps.com! We read every message and feature requests directly influence our roadmap.

Yes! Every map in our collection can be purchased as a museum-quality print that we meticulously prepare by hand to ensure the highest quality. We offer a variety of sizes, framed or unframed. Click the “Buy Print” button on any map page to see your options.

Our maps are available in sizes ranging from 8"x10" to 24"x36". Every size can be purchased unframed or with a black, white, or red oak frame.

When you order, we use graphical editing software to clean up the scan image and arrange the borders to best fit your chosen size. We then send the final image to our print partner and email you with an expected delivery date.

We never alter the actual map content — the terrain, features, and historical markings are always preserved exactly as they are. We may adjust border elements for aesthetics and remove duplicate administrative stamps if they make the print look cluttered. Our goal is to give you a piece of art that's true to its history and looks great on your wall.

Our maps are printed on museum-quality thick matte paper sourced from Japan using water-based inkjet printing with Epson UltraChrome GS3 ink. Frames are made of ayous wood from renewable forests, 0.75" thick with an acrylite front. Framed maps ship with hanging hardware included.

We submit your map for printing within two business days of your order. Printing typically takes 2-5 business days, plus shipping time based on your location. We'll email you with tracking once it ships.

Because we prepare each map by hand as orders come in, the preview images can't show your exact final layout. The previews are there to give you a sense of our frame styles and sizing.

We consider custom requests on a case-by-case basis — for example, maps centered on a specific area, focused on a subsection of a map, or composited from multiple maps. Email us at hello@pastmaps.com with the map(s) you're interested in and a brief description of what you'd like.