This collection of plat maps from the 1872 F.W. Beers Atlas of Oakland County is unique. Most are original scans from the OCPHS collection. Most are 120 DPI images and quite large. Some images are lower resolution – these will be replaced when circumstances allow. Clicking a thumbnail opens a new window. To download a full sized map, click a thumbnail, click again to zoom in, then choose “Save as”
Created sometime between 1838 and 1840, these maps provide a really great view into the county at the time.
Ok all you map nerds, here’s how to interpret these early survey maps. This is Pontiac Township, or in survey-speak, Township 3 North, Range 11 East. You can see it’s a grid pattern. The township itself is 6 square miles, so each box in the grid is one square mile, and are called sections. Surveyors walked the lines making up the grid, creating it as they went. They started at
In 1815, the Surveyor General of the United States was a man named Edward Tiffin, the former governor of Ohio. In that year, he ordered a survey of the Michigan Territory at the request of Congress, who were granting bounty lands to the veterans of the War of 1812. This survey wasn’t completed – the survey crews reported that the territory was an “interminable swamp” and not fit for agriculture
Our newsletter, The Oakland Gazette The Oakland Gazette, in (almost) continuous publication since 1968, is the newsletter for the Oakland County Pioneer and Historical Society. The newsletter not only documents important events in our history but also really interesting articles written about local historical places and figures. The older ones are a fun trip back into how the society operated in earlier times. If you are looking for something specific,
Here are the finding aids.