Research Guides: Philadelphia Region: Maps & Images

Starting the search

PhillyHistory.org : Provides online access to over 50,000 photographs from the collections of the Philadelphia Department of Records. Also provides digital access to the Philadelphia historical streets index and the Philadelphia historical photograph index.

Maps and Images

Social Explorer
Demographic Information from the US censuses from 1790-present.

Philadelphia Architects & Buildings
Search for building history info for historic buildings throughout PA

Greater Philadelphia Geohistory Network

Greater Philadelphia GeoHistory Network
Provides historical maps of the city via a Google Maps viewer. Layers can be combined and viewed together. Click "Interactive Maps Viewer" to get started. Includes digitized versions of several late 19th century Philadelphia atlases and surveys.
PhillyHistory: Photo Archive
A searchable collection of historic photographs and images of the city

Philadelphia Architects & Buildings This link opens in a new window
Contains links to photographs, drawings, and data about buildings in the Philadelphia area.
FREE REGISTRATION REQUIRED FOR SEARCHING.

Brings together the collections, data, images and professional expertise of The Athenaeum of Philadelphia, the University of Pennsylvania Architectural Archives, the Philadelphia Historical Commission, the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, and several local cultural institutions, enabling free access to information on the built environment of the five-county Philadelphia area.

City of Philadelphia Property Search
This site allows users to search for a specific address and find the services areas for various Philadelphia Services.
Philadelphia NIS neighborhoodBase
Provides information from the U.S. Census and several city agencies on a variety of topics, including housing, population, land use, utilities, and more. Census information is from 2000; other city information is more recent. A project of the Cartographic Modeling Lab at the University of Pennsylvania.
Landstat
Maps and data (mortgages, deeds, foreclosures) on Philadelphia County.
Historical Images of Philadelphia
From the Free Library of Philadelphia: a searchable collection of historic photographs of the city.
Philadelphia Historical Digital Image Library
Another digital image library of the city.
Bryn Mawr College collections
Images from the American Philosophical Society (APS)
Birch's views of Philadelphia
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A unique juxtaposition of portraiture from 1800 with photographs of the city from 1960 and 2000.

Historical Maps

Places in Time This link opens in a new window
Contains links to indexes of lithographic, engraved, and photographic image collections, measured drawings, illustrations in architectural publications, real estate atlases and maps, city directories, tax records, census records, and scanned full-text resources relating to the five-county Philadelphia area. For access, contact library@brynmawr.edu

American Memory Map Collection
The American Memory Collection of archival and primary source materials pertinent to American culture and history. Includes maps as well as manuscripts, artifacts, etc.

David Rumsey Map Collection This link opens in a new window
Find 18th and 19th century historical maps at the city, country, and continent levels for North and South America, Europe, Asia, Africa, Oceania.

Mapping Du Bois - The Philadelphia Negro
A recreation of Du Bois' survey of Philadelphia's Seventh Ward.
Historic Streets Index
PhillyHistory.org
Provides online access to over 50,000 photographs from the collections of the Philadelphia Department of Records. Also provides digital access to the Philadelphia historical streets index and the Philadelphia historical photograph index.
Philadelphia maps, 1682-1982: townships, districts, wards
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Environment

Image Repositories

Historical Society of Philadelphia
A collection of historic photographs and artwork of the area and its people.
Holdings at the Athenaeum of Philadelphia
Includes links to several architecture-focused collections.