View topic - maps from the 30's 40's 50's

anyone know of a map source for older versions, say 1:50000's from 30's 40's 50's ... ? scans or prints or a national/provincial archive?

The Library

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I think you would do far better to contact http://maps.nrcan.gc.ca/index_e.php Google only gives me historic maps but not topos( so far)

By far, the best source for historical mapping information in Ontario, is the enormous database of historical claim maps, archived my the Ministry of Northern Development and Mines.

They have a library of maps dating back to the turn of the century. Some are even hand drawn.
All of the Historical Mining Claim maps are available online at http://www.mndm.gov.on.ca/default_e.asp

A word of warning:
These files are in PDF format, and some are very large.

thanks! I downloaded these:

http://www.geologyontario.mndmf.gov.on. ... b&id=mp177

http://www.geologyontario.mndmf.gov.on. ... b&id=mp178

pretty cool, are they what you are referring to? where do I go from there ... i found a map in the index that might be of interest for paddling, how might i go about downloading the actual map?

This process used to work for getting the OGS Maps, but I haven't used it for several years and the website may have changed.

To Get Maps from the MNDM Website

1. do search of database for old maps i.e. ARM 51c Fort Hope Area

Go to MNDM website: http://www.mndm.gov.on.ca/MNDM/Default_e.asp

Click on Mines and Minerals at bottom of page:
http://www.mndm.gov.on.ca/mndm/mines/Default_e.asp

On LHS click on Most Popular Pages and then click on Geology Ontario:
http://www.mndm.gov.on.ca/mndm/mines/ge ... ault_e.asp

Click on Search Databases:
http://www.mndm.gov.on.ca/mndm/mines/ge ... ault_e.asp

Click on search OGS Publications:
http://www.geologyontario.mndm.gov.on.ca/

If you know exact match click on that and enter the publication number i.e. ARM51c

(no spaces in publication number)

Pull up the search results:
Click on View Publication and the map should load in PDF.

Ed. MacPherson

More MNDM Search Note Stuff
To search for a map designated as P. 1561 go into exact match and type in p1561 and then hit Search. This is a Provisional Map and is not case sensitive.

Remember to Reset for the next item

For a regular map you need to add in the letter m. i.e. to search for 2531 put the letter M or m before the number m2531 and hit search using exact match specification.

Oh.. one more thing havecanoe.When you find an area you want to canoe in using the routes shown on these old maps, you may want to come back here and inquire if the route might be useable.Otherwise you may be disappointed. Of course it is also possible that none of us will know about the route you have selected.

Generally the maps up to about vintage 1945 or thereabouts show portages, but after that you will not find any canoe route information.

Have fun.

thanks! i've spent a couple hours trying to identify old maps and, with your help, have been able to locate their electronic versions.

basically, i grabbed PDFs of some annual reports and some indexes, then searched for lake names, slowly building a list of map names.

then, with your tips, this search page was useful:

http://www.geologyontario.mndmf.gov.on.ca/SearchPUB/

wow. some are spectacular such as ARM39b.pdf ... more portages than can be imagined. of course, how many are still passable? LOL!

one PDF that i could not find was for a map cited as "CDM Map 51". any ideas? and I could not find a good portage map for the Kapkichi Lake area just west of Pickle Lake, though ARM42e is pretty good. Also, do you (anyone?) know of a PDF index for the ARM maps? the ARM maps seem to be the best so far.

There should be a couple of Index Maps that you can download from the MNDM website. These maps superimpose the ARM maps on the larger scale Provincial Map so you can see what areas they cover.Keep poking around on the website and you will find them.

ARM 42e Pashkokgan Misehkow Area covers a large portion of the west and east sides of what is now Wabakimi PP and in the North the Albany River from Osnaburgh Lake to Miminiska Lake etc.Many of the portages on it are open courtesy of the Wabakimi Project.

Check with Voyageur if you are planning to go explore up there.Shabuskwia may not be open and on the east side the Attwood and Witchwood can be travelled , but with some difficulty as a number of portages are not yet re-paired.
Also on the east side the topography has been changed to now include the Ogoki Reservoir, when Waboose Dam was built in the mid 1940's. This particular Map was printed in 1933.

The other source of information is "The Canoe Atlas of the Little North " which has compiled all of this information from these old maps and from many other sources into a single book.

You may also want to look at ARM 38b-1 and 38b-2 which cover the Fort Hope and Lake Nipigon to Albany River areas . Again some Dams have changed the topography, but these old maps are surprisingly accurate.

These old maps are sometimes the only references for gaining protection for these old travel routes when we engage the MNR in Forest Management Planning in these areas.

Much of the research I've done on behalf of The Wabakimi Project has relied on OGS maps dating back to the early 1900's. Our other source of reliable canoe route information has been the Natural Resources Canada series of maps. Interestingly, both on-line sources use the same search engine.

When I am searching for a map of a particular area, I use only the last field of the search engine. I simply enter the topo map ID code and wait to see what maps cover that area. I can ask for area "52" or be more specific and use "52 I". If I want to be really fussy, I use a complete ID such as "52 I/13".

Most of the older OGS maps are supplements to an Ontario Department of Mines Annual Report thus the coding "ARM" (Annual Report Map). Hard-bound copies of these reports are available for viewing at several MNDMF office libraries including Thunder Bay and Toronto. Full-colour, printed copies of many of the ARM maps are available for purchase at these locations. Prices are ridiculously low. For example, in preparation for last summer's reconnaissance expeditions, I bought three maps of the Misehkow River and Albany River areas @ $4.50 + tax--the price originally charged when the maps were first produced. This is far cheaper than downloading a huge .pdf file and having it printed commercially.

If you can manage to visit one of the repositories of these Annual Reports, I urge you to take advantage of the opportunity. Each of the surveyors' reports includes a description of the route followed and the supporting maps accurately portray the locations and lengths of portages encountered measured in chains. [1c = 66' = 22yds. = 20m]

Thanks for sharing the link Mike, interesting to look at old township maps of our property and how things have changed!

I'm happy to share this valuable resource with other paddlers.

A word of warning though:
These maps can be HIGHLY addictive, and can easily consume a large portion of your 'work day'...
... Use with extreme caution...

Thanks for all the tips. There is one series of maps that i have not been able to pin down at all. I've read, somewhere that i've now forgotten, that southern Ontario has a 1:10,000 grid series and northern Ontario has a 1:20,000 grid series (interested in the northern grid, mainly around Pickle Lake). Anyone know anything about these maps? dates? where to find them online? or ...?

As I understand it they are no longer available to the public.
Until recently you could purchase them from MNR in Peterborough.
For some unknown reason they stopped selling them and the link on the MNR website that allows you to look at the maps before purchasing them has been removed.

thanks, i'm in the middle of googling for "southern ontario" "northern ontario" "1:10000" "1:20000"
found this :

http://www.lib.uoguelph.ca/resources/da ... e_maps.cfm

which suggests this public 'download' site:

http://www.geographynetwork.ca/website/obm/viewer.htm

i downloaded one as a png another as an eps. the png was a thumbnail, and the eps was had only river and lake outlines.

given your comment, i may or may not continue looking for the 1:10000 and 1:20000.