Get access to Ad-Free Fullscreen Map & Search tools
NEW! Draw on any map and save your drawings and finished maps to your account! Add your drawings to any map. Plus, measure length and area.
Enjoy an ad-free experience across the entire randymajors.org Research Hub website, plus mapBuilder and more!
mapBuilder: custom maps made easy!
Create free custom interactive maps with mapBuilder!
Create custom areas from a list of ZIP Codes, or color-code multiple ZIP Codes or Counties from a live-linked spreadsheet! Perfect for sales/service territories, delivery zones or visualizing research data. Choose which other map layers to show, such as county lines and city limits. Add a map title, choose colors and more. Create a shareable link to your finished interactive map!
Find mapBuilder directly under most map tools on this website!
Want to draw on the map and save your drawings and finished maps to your account?
Monthly Contributors can also draw on any map!
Draw points, lines and shapes on any map! Save your drawings to your My Account dashboard then add them to any map! Also, save your finished maps to your account for easy retrieval. Also, measures and displays length and area automatically when you draw or edit your lines or shapes.
Plus, add custom points to the map: Add points from a live-linked spreadsheet using Google Sheets. Import a KML file from Google My Maps, Google Earth, or GIS software.*
Mix and match: You can add any combination of drawings, custom areas and custom points to the same map!
* Spreadsheets and KML files MUST contain longitude and latitude coordinates in decimal degrees. Geocoded addresses without coordinates are NOT supported.
Compare Versions
FREE VERSION
Ad-supported website
Limited workspace
mapBuilder:
Create Custom Areas from ZIP Codes or Counties (1,000 row maximum)
Historical U.S. Counties Chrome extension (optional):
Active while searching on Ancestry & FamilySearch
MONTHLY CONTRIBUTOR VERSION
Completely Ad-Free website
Fullscreen Map & Search Tools
NEW! Draw on any map, save drawings & finished maps to your account! Add your drawings to any map. Measure length and area. (beta)
Create Custom Areas from ZIP Codes or Counties (no row maximum)
Map custom points from a live-linked spreadsheet or import points from Google My Maps, Google Earth & more
NEW! My Account dashboard stores your saved maps and drawings for easy retrieval
Historical U.S. Counties Chrome extension (optional):
Active while searching on Ancestry & FamilySearch
Location fact-checking in Ancestry Trees
LifeMap for Ancestry Trees
Choose your contribution from $4 to $9 per month:
Access ALL tools & the same benefits at all contribution levels
NEW! Easier sign-in: direct Sign in or Sign in with Google
NEW! More flexible payment methods and subscription management: Cancel in one click at any time and retain access for the remainder of your current monthly period
Historical U.S. Counties Chrome extension
Genealogy lovers: let this FREE tool do the location work for you as you search on Ancestry & FamilySearch!
While searching on Ancestry or FamilySearch, the free Historical U.S. Counties Auto-Checker extension for Google Chrome* automatically checks that the county existed in the year you are searching, checks for valid places, warns of boundary changes, and links to historical county boundaries on Google Maps for the place and years you are searching!
Install for free today and never let an ancestor fall off the map again!
U.S. county boundaries have changed over 17,600 times since America was settled in colonial times. Don’t sabotage your search for ancestors by not knowing the correct county for the historical years you are researching.
Location fact-checking in Ancestry family trees
Monthly Contributors also get Auto-Checker functionality for all U.S. locations in on Person profile pages in Ancestry.com trees!
LifeMap for Ancestry family trees
Monthly Contributors also get LifeMap: from each person profile page on Ancestry.com, you can link to a LifeMap showing all of the U.S. locations for each fact on the page. Then, click the points on the map and see the historical U.S. county boundaries as they existed at the time of each life event!
* The Auto-Checker extension supports the following browsers: Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge Chromium
Frequently Asked Questions
Sign In / Monthly Contributor
Why can’t I Sign in with Google?
You need to be a Monthly Contributor in order to Sign in with Google.
Sign In / Monthly Contributor
I am a Monthly Contributor. How do I sign in?
Sign In / Monthly Contributor
How do I cancel my monthly contributions?
Go to your My Account > Subscriptions page where you can cancel or modify your subscription.
When you cancel, you will still have access to the ad-free website through the end of your current monthly period.
If you signed up before 7 Oct 2021: Go to this link on PayPal to cancel at any time. If you paid by credit card without a PayPal account, please request the cancellation using the Contact Support form.
mapBuilder – Custom Maps
How can I create a custom map?
There are many types of custom maps you can create by using the mapBuilder form found below most of the map tools. Create maps from ZIP Codes (5-digit or 3-digit), counties, Plus, Monthly Contributors can draw points/lines/shapes, and create maps live-linked to Google Sheets or imported from Google My Maps, Google Earth and more. Also, learn more in the Custom Maps section of this website!
mapBuilder – Custom Maps
Can I draw and measure on the map?
Yes, Monthly Contributors can draw points, lines and shapes on any map, and then save the drawings and finished maps to their My Account dashboard for easy access and retrieval. The saved drawings can then be added to any map you create, and can be combined with any other mapBuilder module (such as custom areas and custom points). Also, length and area are displayed when you draw or edit a line or shape.
Historical U.S. Counties Auto-Checker
How do I use the Historical U.S. Counties Auto-Checker Chrome extension?
Find general information on the Chrome extension here. Then, once installed, follow all of these steps. You can also watch a video walkthrough of the Auto-Checker.
