townships

Now you can get access to an AD-FREE version of AncestorSearch on Google Search too!

January 28, 2021 by Randy Majors

Back in December, I announced a way to get access to all of the map tools AD-FREE and FULL-SCREEN. I’m pleased to announce an AD-FREE option is now available for AncestorSearch on Google Search as well! The functionality is identical, but with no ads: The ad-free versions of the map and search tools are formatted to work equally well on your smartphone or tablet too! All the details are on this page: NEW: Enjoy ALL of the map and search tools AD-FREE and FULL-SCREEN! GOOD NEWS: If you have already signed up for access to the ad-free map tools, you now … Read more

Use your smartphone to instantly know what City, Township and County you are currently in

February 2, 2024 by Randy Majors

Have you tried the What County Am I In? tool? Using your smartphone, it quickly lets you know what county you are currently in…as in where you are standing or sitting right now. And now, the What County Am I In? tool has been enhanced to also let you know what city you are in (if you are inside incorporated city limits), and what township you are in (if you are in a township). When you go to the tool’s web page (https://www.randymajors.org/what-county-am-i-in), you’ll see a map like the following, and the listing of the city, township and county you … Read more

County info added to Section Township Range on Google Maps tool, plus a tip for historical county research

January 28, 2021 by Randy Majors

Sometimes it’s hard to determine where you are when using Section, Township and Range Maps. So to help provide more geographic context when searching for a land parcel, county information has now been added to the Section Township Range on Google Maps tool. For example, let’s do the following “Find parcel” at the bottom of the map: That will show the following map, now including the county name on top as well as dashed gray lines for the county boundaries, like this: Note the county name shown in the upper right (highlighted with the red box above), and the county line … Read more

Enjoy ALL of the map and search tools AD-FREE and FULLSCREEN!

November 10, 2023 by Randy Majors

Over the years, I’ve had lots of requests for a way to subscribe to the map and search tools on randymajors.org rather than having advertisements displayed. This has been a challenge, as I want to keep the tools free of charge for everyone to use, and the advertising helps offset the significant costs associated with the development and operation of the tools. I’m excited to say that you now have an opportunity to choose what works best for you: Free map tools supported by advertising (left/top), AD-FREE FULLSCREEN map and search tools (right/bottom) The above screenshots are from … Read more

Check out the new Custom Maps on Google Maps tool

June 13, 2023 by Randy Majors

The new Custom Maps on Google Maps makes it easy to create your own custom Google Map using any combination of ZIP Codes, counties, cities and more! You can use this tool to quickly create: sales territory maps delivery area maps service area maps …all on Google Maps! If your territory is composed of dozens of ZIP Codes, you can choose to ‘merge’ them to show an overall territory boundary. Then, add your own title to the map, and even choose colors. An example link you create looks like this: https://www.randymajors.org/customgmap?mapbuilder=true&zips=10023,10024,10025,10026&zipboundary=show&title=My+Service+Territory The resulting map would look something like this: Be … Read more

Big upgrade to the Section Township and Range tool: more detail, more flexibility, new labels

January 28, 2021 by Randy Majors

After the infrastructure upgrade I mentioned in the last post, the increased speed of the maps enabled me to add much more detail to the very very large map layers (over 12 Gigabytes!) that comprise the Public Land Survey System (PLSS), also known as Section, Township and Range. When you open the tool, you will now be presented with a Google Map overlaid with township and range lines, including labels, such as this: Note the Township and Range labels above. For example, the box where the red dot is has a label “14N 67W” which is shorthand for “Township 14 … Read more

A quick update on the increased speed of the mapping tools

January 28, 2021 by Randy Majors

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

Thank you for the feedback! Now, what have I done with it?

January 28, 2021 by Randy Majors

Thank you to the 182 people that provided valuable feedback via the user survey I had running over the last 30 days on the randymajors.org map and search tools. This post provides a brief summary of the feedback, as well as a handful of enhancement ideas that came from the surveys. First, what are people using the tools for? Given the history of this website, it’s no surprise that the largest proportion of users use the tool for genealogy purposes, especially the Historical U.S. County Boundary Maps and AncestorSearch: Google Custom Search tools. However, it was quite interesting to see … Read more

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

January 28, 2021 by Randy Majors

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

Are you talking about townships or townships?

January 28, 2021 by Randy Majors

You’re in luck either way: If you want to map Township/Range/Section, I’ve just released a new tool called Township Range on Google Maps that maps them all the way down to the quarter quarter section. These townships are part of the Public Land Survey System found in roughly 30 states in the U.S. (which you can read about here). You can search by address, place, GPS coordinates, or do a reverse find by Section, Township, Range. They look something like this: Using the Township Range on Google Maps tool shown above, you can: Search by address or place using the … Read more