Would you like to include U.S. maps in your family history projects, but can’t find what you want? Would you like to add maps to a book you plan to publish but cannot find anything that isn’t copyrighted? Do you need a simple, prepared map that you can print at home, at school, or in the office? A service provided by the U.S. Government will provide maps for you. Best of all, there are no copyrights on the maps. You can use them in commercial books as well as for personal purposes.
The National Atlas is a map-making platform sponsored by the Federal Government that lets you build your own maps. You can create maps that capture and depict patterns, conditions, and trends of American life. You can use the National Atlas templates to create maps that cover all of the United States or just your area of interest.
The National Atlas of the United States of America is a web site created by the United States Department of the Interior. The online atlas provides a map-like view of geospatial and geostatistical data collected for the United States. Unlike the big, bound map collections, the National Atlas includes electronic maps and services that are delivered online.
For example, you can make a map showing America's streams and lakes. Then you can add new map layers showing additional geographic information, such as state boundaries, county boundaries, roads, railroads, and towns and cities.
Once you’ve zoomed in on an area you want to map, you can choose from the display elements available on the right of the program window to display water elements, roads, boundaries and other features. Finally, you can add your own information by first saving the map to your hard drive and then using any appropriate photo editing program to add text and new symbols.
The online National Atlas can be used for many purposes other than genealogy. The site is full of examples for agriculture, biology, climate, environmental, history, and more.
For more information, or to try it yourself, you can visit the National Atlas at http://www.nationalatlas.gov/
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