Thinking About Maps

Anyone who knows me well knows that I really enjoy looking at maps. Of course, since I tend to collect maps I have a number that I can look at. Some of them are really attractive. Here is one of Lane County Oregon from 1910. My town, Cottage Grove is about in the center.

Recently I was asked to make a presentation at the local historical society (Cottage Grove Historical Society, Cottage Grove Oregon) and they told me to do a subject of my own choosing. They titled it "Memories by Joanne Skelton." I have done some previous talks there recently so I didn't want to repeat myself. I chose to talk about "Cottage Grove on the Map." However I did do a talk about that a number of years ago so wanted to make it different. But since I couldn't remember exactly what I said then, probably no one else could either. I gave that talk this morning (20 May 2017) with about 20 maps to illustrate the main points. No one came up and told me they remembered seeing it before.

This blog is Joanne's Genealogy Research, so why am I talking about something from the local historical society. Well, I am also doing a presentation about maps with about a dozen maps to illustrate my points at our local genealogical society (Cottage Grove Genealogical Society, Cottage Grove, Oregon) next month, June 14th. Don't worry, the talks are different, although I do have one map that I am using in both talks, since I did have a relative who lived in Cottage Grove over a hundred years ago.

Maps can't tell us everything and need helpers such as documents, newspapers, or people's memories to give us the best results. But maps are really beneficial to any type of historical research, either an area or a family. Take time to check out maps for your areas. You may be surprised at all you can find.