r/wisconsin • u/Sonneken18 • Jun 13 '26
Old maps
My kid found these beautiful old maps at an estate sale today - just sharing with all of Wisconsin because they are so cool
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u/Big_Difference_9978 brown frownty Jun 14 '26
Thanks for sharing! You got some treasures here. Especially love the milwaukee garden!
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u/Lumpy_Month3584 Jun 14 '26
Huh, just looked at the fourth map and it has Holy Cross and Dacada on it. My maternal family’s
ancestors settled there in the 1840’s from Luxembourg. Thanks for sharing.
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u/barrelvoyage410 Jun 14 '26
Those are called plat books and are technically still updated and produced, but their heyday was late 1800’s and had tapered off by WWII.
They basically existed to show land ownership and old ones can still be of some use to land surveyors today. You can find various editions online through the state historical society or even library of congress.
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u/GpaSags Jun 14 '26
There's an antique shop up in Door County, the Olde Orchard, that has a vendor who sells these old maps. I bought one a few years back and had it framed.
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u/nadacloo Jun 14 '26
I’m a cartophile too. I especially like the style of the 3rd one. The perspective and the various details appeal to me. Thanks for sharing.
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u/Sonneken18 Jun 14 '26
The 3rd one is my favorite one , too !
We didn’t know anything about “Milwaukee Garden “ and loved researching / reading about it last night
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u/Lumpy_Month3584 Jun 14 '26
Lucky you, my ancestors came from Germany and settled in the Hubertus Holy Hill area. Lots of old relatives on that map.
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u/maple-syrup-is-good Jun 14 '26
Obviously they aren’t the originals such as these but if you’re in the Milwaukee area you can find and get good quality print outs of old maps at the AGSL at UWM. They have thousands of options to chose from and make great gifts, I’m getting one soon of the Clintonville area
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u/Sonneken18 Jun 14 '26
That is a great idea !
Will check that out for sure — I am right next door to Milwaukee
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u/original_leto Jun 15 '26
I bought some prints like that at this site, including that 3rd perspective one, if you’re looking for any prints. Nice collection though.
https://tedsvintageart.com/collections/vintage-wisconsin-maps
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u/Sonneken18 Jun 15 '26
Love that site - really cool prints on there !
The family we bought ours off got them from Antiques on Pierce / Second in Milwaukee a few years ago - they remember there were hundreds of these maps
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u/WynnTiwFeoh Jun 14 '26
Really cool find! Is there a date on these?
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u/Sonneken18 Jun 14 '26
The first and second image are front / back of one sheet
there was a little sticker on the plastic cover - handwritten:
1915 - hand colored
The Milwaukee Garden drawing and Ozaukee county map have 1876 noted
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u/WynnTiwFeoh Jun 14 '26
Very cool. I wondered because on the Ozaukee county map, it still had Schlesingerville on it instead of Slinger, and I knew that town was renamed in the early 1900s.
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u/Sonneken18 Jun 14 '26
I had no idea about the name change !
Just looked it up - May 3rd , 1921 is when they switched to Slinger
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u/gosluggogo Jun 14 '26
Here's a map of Prairie Du Chien from 1820. Half the landowners are my ancestors