USGS Topographic disconnects

The United States Geological Survey provides cartographic services for the nation. Arguably their best known service is the production of topographic maps. These maps, especially the 7.5 minute quadrangles, are invaluable for genealogists interested in locating specific features relevant to their ancestors. There are a number of websites that offer access to the USGS topo's, as they are known, but while the maps themselves are in the public domain, their display on websites is usually controlled by licenses. While you can access the topo's in this way, using the images for anything other than your own personal use is highly constrained. A good alternative to such private enterprises is the National Atlas. Here, a wide variety of mappings are available, including the USGS topo's. Since this is a governmental agency, your use of mappings from this site are not as restricted as for mappings from commercial sites. Using such topos from the National Atlas can be used for a variety of purposes by genealogists.

The article, Location Map of Beverley's Manor features a composited set of images obtained from the National Atlas, on which an outline of the boundaries of Beverley's Manor in Augusta County Virignia, has been overlain. This particular example of the use of USGS topo maps is particularly instructive because it highlights a problem with these maps.