historical county boundaries

A Quick Update about Quicker Maps

January 16, 2024 by Randy Majors

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!

Update: Historical Counties and Drawing Tools

March 24, 2024 by Randy Majors

Screenshot showing both historical county labels and civil township labels

First, the popular Historical U.S. Counties Auto-Checker chrome extension has been updated to work with the latest version of Ancestry’s website. Also, now when you use the Historical U.S. Counties map tool, you can explore the historical counties for any historical date in the context of civil townships. As you likely know, civil townships are often used in a lot of historical records from census to land ownership and more. Now, when you turn on labels for historical counties by checking the “Show historical county labels” box in the lower left corner of the map, if you also check the … Read more

New powerful ways to select features on the map tools!

June 14, 2022 by Randy Majors

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

Video Walkthru: Historical U.S. Counties map tool and Auto-Checker extension

February 2, 2021 by Randy Majors

By popular request, I finally have gotten around to recording a couple of video walkthoughs of a couple of the tools. Certainly not polished and produced, but should give you a good understanding of these two tools: Walkthough of the Historical U.S. Counties map tool: Walkthrough of the Historical U.S. Counties chrome extension: I recommend you view them in the above order, as understanding the Historical U.S. Counties map tool will help you have better success with using the Auto-Checker chrome extension. Be easy on me please, as its my first foray into doing a screencapture walkthrough for youtube :) … Read more

New tool shows Civil Townships on Google Maps

November 22, 2022 by Randy Majors

Check out the new Civil Townships tool to see township boundaries on Google Maps, with an option to also see township name labels on the map. Civil townships are active levels of government in about 20 states. They are typically referred to as “towns” in New England, New York and Wisconsin, and are “charter townships” in Michigan. There are an additional several states beyond the 20 that have “inactive” townships, meaning they have recognizable names that the locals may refer to, but that do not serve a governmental purpose. Long story short, all of these flavors of townships are shown … Read more

Auto-checking of location facts in Ancestry Family Trees now available, plus new LifeMap!

July 19, 2021 by Randy Majors

While searching on Ancestry.com and FamilySearch, the FREE Historical U.S. Counties Auto-Checker extension for 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 lines on Google Maps for the place and years you are searching. NEW! SEE A LifeMap OF YOUR ANCESTORS: If you are a randymajors.org Research Hub Contributor, you can link to a LifeMap showing all of the U.S. locations for each fact on any person profile page on Ancestry! It will show the Historical U.S. Counties as they existed as of … Read more

Historical US Counties on Google Maps enhanced to match Census dates, adds townships

February 9, 2021 by Randy Majors

With Census season upon us, I’ve made a little update to the Historical U.S. Counties on Google Maps tool. Now, when you search for a year that was also a U.S. Federal Census year (e.g. 1790-2020) , the date will automatically set to the day of the Census that year. Per the Census Bureau, “From 1790 to 1820, the censuses were conducted as of the first Monday in August (August 2, 1790; August 4, 1800; August 6, 1810; August 7, 1820); the 1830-1880 and 1900 censuses were as of June 1; the 1890 census was as of June 2; April … Read more

Let this FREE tool do the location work for you as you search on Ancestry.com or FamilySearch.org

July 19, 2021 by Randy Majors

Historical U.S. Counties Auto-Checker free version

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. 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, warns of boundary changes, and links to historical county lines on Google Maps for the place and years you are searching! Install for free today and never let an ancestor fall of the map again! For a step-by-step … Read more

Ancestor fall off the map? Use this FREE Chrome extension for Ancestry and FamilySearch to help find them!

July 19, 2021 by Randy Majors

It’s been a long time in the making…so I’m excited to finally make this Chrome extension available! Here’s a run-down on what the Chrome* extension does and why it’s important for your searches on Ancestry and FamilySearch. Are you unknowingly sabotaging your searches on Ancestry and FamilySearch? When searching on Ancestry.com, don’t be lulled into complacency by the convenient “City, County, State…” autocomplete dropdown menus like this one: Why? Because the county listed in the drop-down may not be right! The county may not have existed in the year you are searching…or boundaries may have changed. (Keep reading…county boundaries have … Read more

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

June 8, 2023 by Randy Majors

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