county lines

History buffs: With one click, see a timeline of every county, state and country the spot where you’re standing has ever been a part of.

January 28, 2021 by Randy Majors

Just type in your address or city in the box at www.randymajors.org/maps, type a year as late as 2000, then click Go! County boundaries as of your chosen year will appear. (Sorry for those outside the United States — this only works for U.S. locations) Now, find the check box just below the map, and click it. Sit back and travel back in time through every county, state, territory and country your red marker location ( ) has been a part of! See the example below showing Durango, Colorado — part of La Plata County, Colorado today — all the … Read more

A couple of enhancements to the Historical U.S. County Boundary Maps tool — and a thank you!

January 28, 2021 by Randy Majors

I’ve recently made a couple of enhancements to the Historical U.S. County Boundary Maps tool that make it easier to read and see the results of the search (see screenshot below). Thank you, The Family Nexus, for your article that had very nice things to say about the tool, and also made me aware that the text was a tad small. Another enhancement is the addition of a little “maximize” button above the “Go!” button that expands the map window for much easier viewing (see the little square in the top right of the above screenshot). Finally, one last enhancement is … Read more

Take me to the tools

January 28, 2021 by Randy Majors

Looking at search statistics on my websites, it seems the vast majority of people who visit this site are looking for a few tools I’ve created. So this post is simply to make it easy to find those tools, starting with the most popular: AncestorSearch using Google Custom Search Searches using the full power of Google, and automatically applies advanced Google search techniques so you’re much more likely to find mentions of ancestors that are otherwise buried in thousands of Google search results. Great for genealogy and also searching for living people. Linked to by over 100 professional and amateur genealogy sites, … Read more

AncestorSearch and the Historical Google Maps tools are back in action!

June 8, 2023 by Randy Majors

Sorry for the site outage the last 24 hours or so. A blogger.com configuration change triggered it, but all is back in working order now: AncestorSearch using Google Custom Search: searches using the full power of Google, and then filters exceptionally well so you’re more likely to find mentions of ancestors you otherwise might miss buried in thousands of Google search results. Many people are surprised at what AncestorSearch finds, even for ancestors that they had searched for exhaustively over the years. Historical U.S. County Boundary Maps interactive tool: find the correct U.S. jurisdictions for the place and historical timeframe … Read more

What do courthouses, cemeteries, churches, and libraries have in common?

January 28, 2021 by Randy Majors

Well, for the genealogist and historical researcher, they’re all great places to look for historical sources and information on ancestors, historical figures, or the local area. And they’ve recently been incorporated into my Historical U.S. County Boundary Maps tool! Just check the “Show Research Locations” checkbox and then select which categories you want to show, and symbols will appear on the map: Then, you can click an icon, and an info window will appear: The name of the place and the Website are both hyperlinks, which will open up a Google Places page for more information on the place: I’ve … Read more

New and more interactive version of the Historical U.S. County Boundary Maps tool released!

June 8, 2023 by Randy Majors

Check out the new and more interactive version of the Historical US County Boundary Maps tool! Here’s a quick run-down on what’s new: Show me the answer now please! Now, when you type a Place and a Year* and click the Go button, you will be zoomed to that place and an information panel will automatically appear above the map, as highlighted here: I want the details. The information panel above the map shows the year, county name, full place name, and details about the latest evolution of your county of interest’s boundaries as of the year you chose. Source … Read more

Are you sure you’re looking in the right county for those records?

June 8, 2023 by Randy Majors

Example of county boundaries changing over time

When doing genealogical or historical research, it’s helpful (if not essential) to know what counties to search for the timeframe you’re interested in. And as we all know, boundaries shift over time. So you may think you know what counties to search, but is there a chance you’re missing something? Take a look at this example. Let’s assume you’re looking for records for your homesteading ancestors who settled in the region between Albuquerque, Los Alamos, and Santa Fe, New Mexico. This animation shows the boundaries by decade from 1850 to 1950. Those county boundaries were anything but stable. Take for … Read more

New and simple online tool uses Google Maps to show historical county boundaries

January 28, 2021 by Randy Majors

THIS POST CONTAINS UPDATES FROM 06 JUN 2011: Thanks so much for all of the interest in this tool, and for your positive comments and constructive feedback! I’ve incorporated several enhancements into the current version. We all know the importance of county governments for maintaining various types of records that are useful for genealogical research. But how often have you tried searching for an ancestor’s historical records for a given county, only to realize that you were searching in the right place but the wrong county? In fact, according to John H. Long, the director of the Atlas of Historical … Read more