A Quick Update about Quicker Maps

Minneapolis area city limits

Remember when randymajors.org map tools took 10 seconds or more to draw, especially more complex tools such as ZIP Codes or especially Section Township Range? Now, based on some exciting technology improvements, most of the maps draw nearly instantly! Check out the following map tools and their much faster drawing speeds as you move around the map: We hope these improvements, together with last year’s improvements to map labels, make your mapping experience that much more productive and enjoyable! Happy New Year and Happy Mapping!

New powerful ways to select features on the map tools!

Radius drawing tools example

Now you can use the Selection Tools button to select map features on any map tool! You can select the map features using any points, lines or shapes that you draw, or select map features by specifying a radius around any shape you draw. The map features that get selected depend on which tool you are using: counties, city limits, civil townships, ZIP Codes, Section Township Range, historical U.S. counties, time zones, area codes or the custom map tools. Here’s how it works: Using the County Lines map tool as an example, click the Selection Tools button on the left … Read more

New feature: DRAW ANY SHAPE on the map to reveal all of the Counties, ZIP Codes, Cities, Townships and more

With all of the Map tools on the randymajors.org Research Hub, you’ve always been able to click on the map to know what ZIP Code, city, county or Section Township and Range that you clicked on. Now with this latest version of the map tools, you can DRAW ANY SHAPE and identify what’s there! Here are the simple steps: Click the “Selection Tools” button on the left side of the map Select the shape you want to draw (line, custom polygon or rectangle) in the upper left corner Draw any shape on the map and double-click the map when you’re … Read more

A quick update on the increased speed of the mapping tools

After some infrastructure upgrades, all of the randymajors.org mapping tools are now operating faster!  In my time tests, I was seeing drawing speeds that were 2.5x to 3x faster than before the upgrade. The very largest of map layers, such as Section Township Range on Google Maps, seem to see the biggest improvement (drawing in 5-6 seconds now vs 25-30 seconds before the upgrade), although other layers such as Historical Counties, County Lines and ZIP Codes also drew about 2x faster that before. So you should on average see the information panel above the maps update a bit faster and … Read more

Show me ALL of the names!

You’ve always been able to search or click on the map and have information about the ONE spot where you clicked appear at the bottom of the map, like this: “But wouldn’t it be nice,” many people have asked over the years, “to see ALL of the names of the counties on the map rather than just the one that I clicked?”  Or something to that effect. Now you can.  Just go to the Historical U.S. Counties on Google Maps tool and check “Show labels…” checkbox in the lower left corner of the map, and your map will be pleasantly … Read more

See for miles and miles…or at least a few more inches

Probably the most common request I hear is something along the lines of “can you make the map window larger?” Well the wait is finally over.  All of the randymajors.org map windows are now optimized to fill more of your screen, no matter what your screen resolution is. This update applies to County Lines on Google Maps, City Limits on Google Maps, Township Range on Google Maps, ZIP Codes on Google Maps, Location Explorer on Google Maps, Historical U.S. County Boundary Maps, Climate Info on Google Maps, Time Zones on Google Maps and Area Codes on Google Maps. For those on … Read more

County Lines on Google Maps enhancements, Time Zones and Area Codes tools released

QUICK LINK TO THE MAP TOOL:  County Lines on Google Maps This is just a quick note to let you know of a few enhancements to the County Lines on Google Maps tool, as well as the release of the worldwide Time Zones on Google Maps tool. First, for the county lines tool: 1.  When searching in the US, you can now choose to also show City Limits at the same time as County Lines.  Just check this little box in the lower left corner of the map: With “Also show US city limits” checked, you’ll be able to click on … Read more

For the map and geography geek in you…

For those of you who are map and geography geeks like me, I’ve just released a new tool I created on Google Maps that I hope you find both informative and maybe even fun! I named the tool Location Explorer on Google Maps. Think of it as kind of a “drill-down” for any chosen U.S. location — be it a place or address. Not sure how to best describe it…so let’s use pictures: For the above example, I simply typed an address in Salt Lake City, and the 12 above maps appeared.  The maps show all of the following “topics” for … Read more

How can you see city limits on Google Maps?

Short answer…you can’t. Except for one at a time, like this, where I typed “St Louis” in standard Google Maps: But what if (for some reason) you want to see ALL of the city limits in an area.  Well now you can here:  City Limits on Google Maps It looks like this: The city limits can be very detailed and so may take a few moments to draw: Despite this being somewhat of a mess to look at, I’ve had several people who have been using my County Lines on Google Maps tool who have requested being able to view city … Read more

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