NavList:

Caltopo has the ability to show historic maps in addition to many other layers:

https://caltopo.com

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mwmayer@tds.net

From: NavList@fer3.com <NavList@fer3.com> On Behalf Of Paul Hirose
Sent: Thursday, January 16, 2020 9:46 PM
To: mwmayer@tds.net
Subject: [NavList] Historic US chart & map collections

NOAA has a large collection of historic American nautical and

aeronautical charts scanned at high resolution. They can be viewed

online or downloaded.

https://historicalcharts.noaa.gov/

Topographic maps in the US have been the responsibility of another

agency, the US Geological Survey. They too have an archive of historic maps:

https://www.usgs.gov/core-science-systems/national-geospatial-program/topographic-maps

Your search can specify the desired scale, but if you choose 1:24000

that excludes most of the old stuff, which was generally at smaller scale.

The modern equivalent is "US Topo." These are separate quadrangles, just

like the legacy paper maps. However, the publication cycle is much more

frequent. They are not as artistic as the old topos, which were

handmade. That shows especially in the lettering. Automation does not

equal human judgement in that respect.

One bonus is the orthophotograph included in the US Topo PDF. This is an

aerial photograph which has been rectified to make the image coincide

with the map projection. In other words, it's not the perspective view

recorded by the camera. Depending on your PDF viewer the presence of the

orthophoto may not be obvious. You have to select it from the list of

"layers."

If you just need to view the most recent map online, the seamless

National Map is most convenient, especially if your point of interest is

near a quadrangle boundary. Both the National Map and US Topo are

accessible from the above link.