Map Collection

Maps in other TSLAC Collections

Although our Map Collection contains maps from a variety of sources, we also hold thousands of other maps that are part of state and local agency records and manuscript collections. Those maps may not appear within our Map Collection database. This overview highlights agency records and other collections containing a significant number of maps that may be of interest to researchers.

State Records

The name of the state agency is listed first followed by the title of the record series or sub-series (if known), which contains the maps discussed. The series title is linked to an online description of the records, when available.

Adjutant General

Texas State Guard/Texas Defense Guard/Texas State Guard Reserve Corps records, 1938-1983, undated, bulk 1941-1945
The series Battalion records and Administrative records include several maps, dating 1938-1983, bulk 1938-1950. The Battalion records contain maps of maneuvers. The records within this series are organized by battalion, then chronologically. The Administrative records contain outline maps of brigade areas and general highway maps and are organized by subject.

Attorney General

Oklahoma vs. Texas boundary dispute records, 1818-1929, bulk 1919-1929
Maps were created as part of the dispute between Texas and Oklahoma over the Red River and 100th meridian boundaries, following the discovery of oil in Wichita County and the Red River Valley in 1918-1919. The records within this collection have been added to the Map Collection. These particular maps are not restricted.

Litigation files (early to mid twentieth century)
Maps are present in litigation cases concerning boundary claims, oil and gas claims, vacancy suits, and other topics. These are arranged by case file number. Finding aids are available in the Archives reading room. These records are restricted and the Attorney General's Office must review the file before access is allowed.

Department of Insurance State Fire Marshal

Department of Insurance State Fire Marshal fire insurance maps, 1906-1992, undated, bulk 1920-1980
These are fire insurance maps of Texas cities and towns created either by the Sanborn Map Company or the Texas Fire Insurance Department (TFID) and the Texas State Board of Insurance (TSBI). The fire insurance maps were used by the Fire Insurance Department to assist in determining fire insurance rates for cities and towns. The TFID/TSBI created maps for smaller cities and towns that Sanborn did not cover and created addendum sheets for cities and towns with Sanborn coverage. The Sanborn maps are printed, while the TFID/TSBI maps are all manuscript, prepared on light graph paper in pencil with colored pencils used to denote certain features. Accompanying some of these maps are copies of street maps with a key to the location of the fire insurance maps sheets noted. Digital images of our fire insurance maps may be found in the Texas Digital Archive using the Fire Insturance Maps Custom Search tool.

Department of Insurance State Fire Marshal key rate city files, 1893, 1904-1999, undated, bulk 1930-1997
Housed separately are a large group of mostly original maps of water systems of cities and towns. These maps typically show streets and roads, rivers, lakes, water lines, fire hydrant locations, and other water system features. Most of the maps were done by the Engineering Division of the Department of Insurance or its predecessors (the State Board of Insurance, the Texas Fire Insurance Dept., or the State Fire Insurance Commission), with a few done by the Texas Commission on Fire Protection. Several hundred water system maps and related maps are folded and housed in the boxes with the records of the cities and towns, most being different editions of the city water system plats done by the various insurance agencies. Other maps include water system or water district maps by local governments, and street maps. During processing, original water system maps found in the boxes were removed and placed in the Historic Map Collection, along with maps housed separately from the city files. These maps are listed in the finding aid by map number following the name of the city in the group one city files.

Legislature

The State Archives holds Texas Legislative Council records that contain maps and plans used for redistricting. Except where noted, all records are restricted and must be reviewed by an archivist before access is allowed. As per requirements of HB 4181 and HB 1962 (86th Legislature), legislative branch records are administered by the Legislative Reference Library. To access redistricting maps held within House and Senate committee records, you may contact the Legislative Reference Library at 512-463-1252.

Texas Legislative Council, redistricting maps and reports, 1991-1992
The maps show proposed district realignment for the State House, Senate, and Board of Education districts, covering the 69^th-73^rd Legislatures for House and Senate districts, and the 72^nd Legislature for Board of Education districts. These records have no restrictions.

Texas Legislative Council, redistricting records, 1991, 1995
Maps detail State Board of Education districts, State House districts, and State Senate districts. Maps for State Board of Education districts (Plan E522) date from 1991 and are black and white. Maps for House districts (Plan H849) and Senate districts (Plan S730) were drawn in 1995 as part of the court-ordered settlement for the 1996 elections. These records contain both black and white and color versions of the House and Senate district maps.

Texas Legislative Council, redistricting records, 1981-1982, 1991-2006, bulk 2001-2006
Records are plans and maps detailing State Board of Education districts, State House Districts, and State Senate districts from 1991 to 2006, prepared by the Legislative Council.

Offshore Terminal Commission

Records, 1972-1975
There are approximately 50 maps in this group of files. Types of maps present are nautical charts along the Texas coast; maps showing water resources development, lakeside recreation, oil leases and platforms, petroleum facilities, natural hazards of the Texas coast, underwater archaeological sites, offshore fisheries, endangered wildlife, and recreational and historical resources; and an industrial map of Houston. There is also a 60-plate regional atlas of the Houston-Galveston area.

Parks and Wildlife Department

Parks Division records, 1905-2001, bulk 1927-1996
Maps are found throughout these records. The series Maps and brochures of state parks and recreational areas within this collection contains brochures, plats and maps showing trails, facilities and site markers of state parks and state recreation areas.

Infrastructure Division records, 1938, 1942, 1944, 1950-1995, bulk 1970-1995
The series Aerial photographs and support documentation include images for most state parks. The series Maps includes regional maps and park flash flood maps.

State Parks Board records, 1901-1902, 1905, 1908, 1917, 1925-1963, bulk 1933-1949
Plans, drawings, and maps showing the location of Texas state parks are scattered throughout the records, but are located primarily in the series Acquisition and development files and the series Civilian Conservation Corps files.

State Parks Board, Civilian Conservation Corps drawings, 1905-1974, undated
Records are plans and drawings of park development work done by the Civilian Conservation Corps in Texas in the 1930s and 1940s. Included are plats of the grounds, blueprints and drawings of buildings, and plans and drawings of furnishings and other features. Most of the items are either pencil on tracing vellum or ink on linen. Additional information concerning this collection and links to digital images of the drawings are on our Civilian Conservation Corps Plans and Drawings on Flickr webpage.

Railroad Commission

Rail Division, incoming correspondence, 1872-1955, bulk 1891-early 1920s
Scattered through these records are maps showing railroad property and railroad lines.

Rail Division, rail history files, 1836-1996, undated, bulk 1850-1960
There are several maps, most of specific rail lines, used for a docket or hearing. Dates of the maps are mid-late 20^th century.

Transportation Division, Interstate Commerce Commission finance dockets, 1920-1952
Dockets include a map showing proposed railway extensions, track to be abandoned, lines in operation, right-of-way maps along railroad lines, and general railroad maps of certain regions of the state.

Oil and Gas Division, correspondence and reports, 1900-1963, undated, bulk 1919-1938, 1957
Maps are related to oil and gas work. Partial county maps show individual tracts of land, oil fields, oil and gas wells, pipelines, leases, and structural features. Oversize maps, plats and Photostats accompany many of the reports and hearing files.

Oil and Gas Division, plats, about 1930-1960, bulk 1941-1954
These are plats of oil and gas leases and survey maps showing oil, gas, and water well locations, oil/gas lease and field boundaries, land and lease owners, cities, towns, rivers, and creeks. The maps often contain notes about the wells. Some maps are accompanied by correspondence about the leases or have affidavits attached. Most of the maps were drawn by local surveyors and cover specific leases. These plats and maps were not created by the Railroad Commission but sent to them by operators with various other records, such as applications for permits. The Railroad Commission retained these plats and maps as a source of well data and related information. This series contains files for district 8 (covering West Texas), district 10 (covering the Panhandle), and a few maps for district 4 (covering South Texas). Remaining plat files, if they exist, are at the Railroad Commission.

Surface Mining and Reclamation Division coal mining permit records, 1990-2013
Located within individual permit applications and correspondence files are maps and plats of the areas to be mined and design plans for reclamation work completed. These maps are scanned and available online at the Railroad Commission’s Texas Coal Mining Online Records webpage.

Secretary of State

Statutory Documents Section, deed files, about 1848-1994, bulk 1928-1963
Files include maps of sites for military bases and institutions, plans of forts and camps, plats of surveys, and right-of-way maps for state highways. Maps are filed with the records by property or site.

Statutory Documents Section redistricting plans, 1981-1982, 1991-1993
These files concern actions taken by the Texas Legislative Redistricting Board and the Texas Judicial Districts Board, and filed with the Texas Secretary of State, for the reapportionment of the various state election districts (State Senate, State House of Representatives, State Board of Education, and district courts) when the legislature failed to redistrict. These records include maps, dating 1981-1982 and 1991-1993.

Water Commission (now Texas Commission on Environmental Quality)

Natural Resource Conservation Commission water rights application files, 1824, 1910, 1913-2001, undated, bulk 1921-1997
These water use maps, plans and drawings were filed with the Texas Board of Water Engineers (TBWE), later the Texas Water Commission (TWC) as part of water use applications. Early maps and drawings include those of proposed dams and dam improvements, floodways, irrigation systems, canals, pumping plants, city water supply projects, water storage reservoirs, lakes, water works and sewage improvements, rice irrigation projects, among others. Later maps and drawings include the above types as well as sand and gravel mining projects, salt water experiment stations, situation plans for power stations, irrigation systems of state facilities, floodwater embankment plans and profiles, plans of spillways, cooling water supply plans for plants, fish farms, golf course irrigation systems, water conveyance systems for cities, drainage areas, and site grading plans. The maps and drawings were prepared by private engineers, surveyors, city engineers, and others, and primarily consist of black and white manuscript items on linen, with some on vellum. For later years some diazo copies are present, as well as some form of printing or copying onto brownish linen. These maps accompany water use application files that are no longer active. Maps for active water use permits are still housed at the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. The maps contain restricted information and will require review before researchers can be granted access to the materials. Our Guidelines for Researchers include instructions on submitting a Public Information Act request.

Water Commission water rights application plans, maps, and drawings, 1913-1990, undated
The Texas Water Commission (TWC) protected surface and groundwater quality while ensured that utility and water district customers received adequate services. Records consist of plans, maps, and drawings for water use applications created by private and public engineers and surveyors, on behalf of applicants, that were filed with the TWC (and its predecessors the Texas Board of Water Engineers, the Texas Water Rights Commission, and the Texas Department of Water Resources), dating 1913-1990 and undated. Applicants ranged from private landowners, to municipalities, to country clubs, to private businesses. Maps described here are oversize and were maintained separately from the water rights application files. The maps contain restricted information and will require review before researchers can be granted access to the materials. Our Guidelines for Researchers include instructions on submitting a Public Information Act request.

Department of Water Resources

Texas Department of Water Resources Enforcement and Field Operations Division Ixtoc I oil spill records
Maps and aerial photographs concern the Ixtoc I Oil Spill.

Texas Department of Water Resources water planning files
This series contains possibly hundreds of maps regarding water planning activities, with maps covering topics such as reconnaissance studies, irrigation surveys, and drainage surveys. County highway maps are also present.

Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission Reclamation Engineer records
Maps document various water reclamation projects throughout Texas, as well as areas surrounding the projects. Project files are generally arranged by county and then project. The maps may contain restricted information and require review before access can be granted to researchers. Our Guidelines for Researchers include instructions on submitting a Public Information Act request.

Manuscript Collections

Many manuscript collections contain a scattering of maps. In the past as manuscript collections were processed, maps were routinely transferred to the Map Collection. Highlighted below are two of the State Archives collections with a significant number of maps still maintained as part of the original papers.

Mirabeau B. Lamar papers, 1806-1941
Eleven manuscript maps show surveys of land purchased by or conveyed to Lamar, his land grant and the Long plantation. Locations include portions of Bexar, Collin, Cooke, Fayette and Refugio counties, and the vicinity of Aransas and Copano bays. Map descriptions are available in the published Calendar of the papers of Mirabeau Buonaparte Lamar .

Mrs. Roscoe Runge collection, 1879-1966
Approximately 50 maps focusing on Mason County and surrounding areas show tracts of land, ranches, roads, easements and sewer lines. These materials are unprocessed.

Local Records

The State Archives has received two series of maps from archival repositories that no longer maintain local government records.

Bexar-Medina-Atascosa Counties Water Control and Improvement District No. 1 survey maps and plats, undated, bulk 1912-1930
Plat, ownership, sectional and other maps of this south central Texas water district focus on areas bordering Medina Lake and the Medina River. A printed inventory is available in the Archives reading room.

Galveston County maps, blueprints, and drawings, 1845, about 1891-about 1969
Plans and drawings, mostly from the Galveston County Clerk's Office, include 12 volumes of plat maps, two volumes of Sanborn maps, as well as blueprints and drawings of the Galveston County Courthouse, bridges and similar structures and survey maps. A printed inventory is available in the Archives reading room.

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