Maps of Kansas are a great resource to help learn about a place at a particular point in time. Old Kansas maps are effective sources of geographical information and useful for historical, genealogical and territorial research.

Our collection of Kansas maps includes many different historic and modern types of maps. The maps date from the 00th century to the present and include:

State Map of Kansas state with the counties and the county seats
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State Map of Kansas state with the counties and the county seats
  • Kansas Township maps, including maps showing the progress of the original government surveys
  • Kansas Road, Highway and railroad maps
  • Kansas Maps showing the state’s geological features
  • Kansas timeline of county boundaries changes
  • Kansas Military maps
  • Kansas Maps of specific towns, counties and bodies of water
  • Territorial era maps of Kansas
  • Bird’s eye views of Kansas cities and towns

Historical Maps of Kansas are a great resource to help learn about a place at a particular point in time. Kansas Maps are vital historical evidence but must be interpreted cautiously and carefully.

Kansas Map Collections

The Kansas State Historical Society’s volume 8 of Transactions contains a good map series, which clearly shows how Kansas counties were developed.

There are approximately 21,000 architectural drawings and maps included in the Kansas State Historical Society’s collection. The maps came from various sources, including individuals, railroads, government agencies, and map publishers.

Researchers can obtain information based on time periods and locations. A list of Kansas towns that no longer exist, known as the Kansas Dead Town List, is also available.

The Kansas Department of Transportation can provide researchers with access to the General Highway Maps, which are organized according to the name of each county.

Those maps mark all of the following important landmarks and information: Cemeteries, Churches, Land Holdings, Township and Range Lines, Section Numbers, Water Courses, 0ther Important Structures.

Old Historical Atlas Maps of Kansas

This Historical Kansas Map Collection are from original copies. Most historical maps of Kansas were published in atlases and spans over 000 years of growth for the state.

Some Kansas maps years have cities, railroads, P.O. locations, township outlines, and other features useful to the Kansas researcher.

Colton’s 1856 Map of Kansas and Nebraska

  • Map Title:  Map of Kansas and Nebraska
  • Map Date: 1856 (Entered 1855)
  • Map Locations: Kansas and Nebraska
  • Map Description: The map details the regions between the Great Salt Lake and Iowa and between the Canadian Border and New Mexico, covering territorial Kansas and Nebraska as well as parts of adjacent Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri and Utah.

    Kansas is here spelled with a ‘z,’ as ‘Kanzas.’ This spelling corresponds to the original spelling used in documentation incorporating the region as a territory. The spelling ‘Kansas’ evolved as the standard usage in the 1860s.
  • Map Notes: In full color by county.
  • Map Publication: Colton’s Atlas Of The World, Illustrating Physical And Political Geography.
  • Map Type: World Atlas
  • Map Cartographer: Joseph Hutchins Colton (1800-1893)

Johnson’s 1860 Map of Kansas and Missouri

  • Map Title:  Map of Missouri And Kanzas
  • Map Date: 1860
  • Map Locations: Kansas and Missouri
  • Map Description: This old 1860 map shows the county boundaries and settlements within the State of Missouri and the eastern half of Kansas as they existed in 1860. This map shows the original 36 counties which were created in Kansas before officially becoming a state in 1861. Also shown is Dodge County in northern Missouri which existed only from 1846 to 1853.
  • Map Notes: In full color by county or region.
  • Map Publication: Johnson’s New Illustrated Family Atlas, With Descriptions, Geographical, Statistical, And Historical.
  • Map Type: World Atlas
  • Map Cartographer: Alvin Jewett Johnson (1827 – 1884)
1866 Map of Kansas and Nebraska Public Survey Sketches by the Department of Interior Land Office
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1866 Map of Kansas and Nebraska Public Survey Sketches by the Department of Interior Land Office

  • Map Title:  Map of Kansas and Nebraska. Department of the Interior, General Land Office, October 2nd 1866
  • Map Date: 1866
  • Map Locations: Kansas and Nebraska
  • Map Description: One of the best early surveys of Kansas and Nebraska. Only the eastern portions have been subdivided into counites and townships, with the west substantially wide open. Includes the location of Land Grant Railroads, and the 20 and 25 miles limits of same, along with land offices and the surveyor general’s office. Areas with Coal, Salt, Lead, Platina and Marble are noted with color coding.
  • Map Publication: Maps accompanying Report of the commissioner of the General Land Office.
  • Map Notes: Map in color by county. The legend includes the Land Offices and the completed railroads. A state rich in coal deposits, it is estimated that the area of the coal fields is 7,700 square miles.
  • Map Type: National Atlas
  • Map Cartographer: United States. General Land Office.
1880 State, County and Township Map of Kansas and Nebraska
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Mitchell’s 1880 State, County and Township Map of Kansas and Nebraska

  • Map Title:  County & township map of the states of Kansas and Nebraska
  • Map Date: 1880 (Entered 1879)
  • Map Locations: Kansas and Nebraska
  • Map Description: Detailed map of Kansas and Nebraska. Illustrates the disparity in western development in Nebraska and Kansas. Kansas shows almost modern county configuration, while northern Nebraska is still largely unexplored. Shows railways, towns, roads, forts, etc.
  • Map Publication: Mitchell’s New General Atlas
  • Map Notes: County & township map of the states of Kansas and Nebraska. Drawn and engraved by W.H. Gamble, Philadelphia.
  • Map Type: World Atlas
  • Map Cartographer: Samuel Augustus Mitchell Jr. (1827-1901)
1886 Map of Kansas
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Cram’s 1886 Map of Kansas

  • Map Title:  Map of Kansas
  • Map Date: 1886
  • Map Locations: Kansas
  • Map Description:
  • Map Publication: Morse’s North American atlas. Containing the following beautifully colored maps
  • Map Notes:
  • Map Type: National Atlas
  • Map Cartographer: George Franklin Cram (1842 – 1928)

Map of Kansas County Formations 1855-1893

This Interactive Map of Kansas Counties show the historical boundaries, names, organization, and attachments of every county, extinct county and unsuccessful county proposal from the creation of the Kansas territory in 1855 to 1893.

Kansas County Maps of Road and Highway’s

The Kansas D.O.T. Highway Department has prepared a series of 2010 county road maps free online. These Kansas road maps contain more detailed information about man-made features than the geological survey maps.

In addition to roads and boundaries, these maps include rural communities, churches, and cemeteries. These Kansas maps are Free to downloade are in PDF format.

External Kansas Map Resources

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