The Qld Govt has digitised over 10,000 historic maps of Queensland. One of them may be perfect for your historical research, but you aren’t going to look through 10,000 maps to see if they cover the place you want.
This tool allows you to specify where in Queensland you are interested in using latitude and longitude and it will return you a list of maps that include that place. Depending on the information provided with each map, we either know exactly if it includes the place (works for about 2/3rd of the maps) or we have to do some guesswork (about 1/3rd of the maps). If the map suggested was based on guesswork, it will be indicated in the Approx field.
The maps are always returned to you ordered by scale, so the most
“close-up” map covering a small area will be returned before
the “broad brush” maps covering a large area. Generally
close-up maps will show more detail. But different types of maps
show different kinds of information, so you should check the less
detailed maps if the detailed maps don’t help.
With each map returned, it includes a Zone which tries to direct
your attention to the correct part of the map for the coordinates
you have. The zone is done by dividing the map vertically into A
(the top), B, C, D (the bottom) and horizontally into 1 (the
left), 2, 3, (the right). If the Approx field is blank, this zone
will be highly accurate. If the Approx field is not blank,
then this zone will also be approximate.
Please enter the latitude and longitude of the place of interest
in decimal format. Latitudes for Queensland are negative (South)
and Longitudes positive (East). For example, if you were
interested in the Brisbane City Hall area, the decimal degrees are
latitude -27.468 and longitude 153.023 -- try them and see what
you find!
Navigate your way to your place of interest on Google Maps. Then
right-click and a panel of information will appear with the
decimal degrees at the top, move your mouse over the decimal
degrees and then left-click. The decimal degrees will now be in
your clipboard for you to paste.
If you are using the Queensland Place Names database, search for
the place name you want. When you have found its entry, copy from
the decimal degrees it provides.
Copyright 2020 Kerry Raymond and David Horton