The Archives' map collection consists of over 5,000 maps covering the years 1639 to the present. It is an incredibly rich resource documenting the transformation of Brooklyn, Queens, Nassau, Suffolk, Long Island, New York City, and New York State from rural, empty farm land into one of the most densely populated metropolitan areas in the United States.

The maps document this region's land ownership, homes, political and property boundaries, land formation, transportation routes, significant landmarks and more.

Their diversity of documentation is matched by their diversity in size from very small to very large, and type from hand-drawn surveyor's maps to bird's eye views to mass produced maps.

The Archives groups the maps by creator or subject and places them in alphabetical order. Almost all of the groups have sub groups. The Archives groups these sub groups by subject or creator and lists them in alphabetical order. The Archives further divides the maps by size and then in chronological order.

If a map documents more than one neighborhood, village, town, city, county or state, the division identifies them with the next largest single political boundary. For example, if a map documents the neighborhoods of Sunset Park and Park Slope, the Archives identifies the map as Brooklyn City. Or if a map documents the villages of Mineola and Rockville Centre two villages in Hempstead and North Hempstead Towns, the Archives identifies it as Nassau County. Or if a map documents the Long Island Rail Road from Long Island City and Flatbush Avenue to Montauk and Orient Point, spanning all four counties of Long Island, the Archives identifies it as Railroads, Long Island and Long Island Rail Road.

The following is a note about the identification and listing of maps documenting Kings, Nassau, Queens and Suffolk Counties.

For neighborhoods in Kings and Queens Counties, the Archives uses the names currently used in the Archives' vertical files. For towns in Kings and Queens Counties, the Archives uses the original town names in the two counties, including New Lots, Long Island City and the Rockaways.

For Nassau and Suffolk County maps, the Archives separates them by county and then lists them in alphabetical order by the single political boundary documented – incorporated village, town or county.

The Archives at Queens Library reserves the right to screen requests for access to these collections.

Note: Click here to see online maps showing the locations of the areas documented on historic maps in the Long Island Division, Historic Maps Online. Currently we have 461 of the Division's 5,267 historic maps documented on the online maps. As we catalog more, we will add their information to the online maps.

Map of the Borough
of Queens of the City of
New York

Maps	Description
Belcher Hyde and Sanborn Company Maps	Very detailed maps of all four counties on Long Island showing every structure in an area, the building materials of the structures, their sizes, addresses, uses, and more.
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	Board of Education, (New York City), Maps, 9 maps, 1967-1975 These maps are the Board of Education's Utilization of School Buildings and Data on Large-scale Housing maps, 1967-1975 of Brooklyn and Queens.
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	Board of Elections, (New York City), Assembly District Maps, 70 maps, 1945-1977 These are maps of Queens' assembly districts from 1945-1977.
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	Cemetery Maps, 35 maps, 1823-1963 These maps are of cemeteries on Long Island and one in Elizbethtown, New Jersey. They show cemetery boundaries, gravesite locations and private plots.
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	Coast and Geodetic Surveys, 163 maps, 1778-1973 These maps document the depth of the rivers, bays, ocean and sound in and around Long Island. They also document the tides, coastal land elevations and more.
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	Enumeration District Maps - Federal and New York State Census, 116 maps, 1910-1930 These maps document the Federal and New York State Census enumeration districts of Kings, Queens, Nassau and Suffolk Counties.
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	Final Maps of the Borough of Queens, Topographical Bureau, Borough of Queens, 371 maps, 1901-1953   These maps document the final layout of the streets in Queens including the old and new street names, location, grade, width and length. To access these maps refer to the index map found in M 3.12.1.
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	Fort Maps, 61 maps, 1765-1964 These maps document the Forts Greene, Schulyer, Stephens and Totten. The majority of the maps document Fort Totten, 51 maps, 1819-1964. All of these maps are photocopies of maps from the National Archives.
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	Geological and Soil Maps, 160 maps, 1903-1981 These are the maps created by the U.S. Geological Survey and document the topography, roads and more.
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	Health Area Maps, New York City Department of Health, 33 maps, 1930-1973 These maps document the boundaries of New York City health areas. They are conglomerations of census tracts and demographic and socio-economic data of city residents.
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	Kings County (Brooklyn) Maps, 837 maps, 1640-2003, n.d. 1840-1920 These maps document the neighborhoods, towns and county of Kings County. The maps are hand-drawn surveyor's maps, real estate maps, street maps, land ownership maps and more.
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	Long Island Maps, 143 maps, 1666-2002, n.d. 1880-1990 These maps document Long Island in the form of hand-drawn surveyor's maps, real estate brochures, street maps, real estate maps, political boundary maps, and more.
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	Nassau County Maps, 355 maps, 1789-1992, n.d. 1840-1950 These maps document the villages, towns and county of Nassau County. The maps are hand-drawn surveyor's maps, real estate maps, street maps, land ownership maps and more.
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	New York City Maps, 67 maps, 1639-1969, n.d. 1880-1930 These maps document New York City. A map is identified as New York City if it documents more than one borough and one of those boroughs is the Bronx, Manhattan or Staten Island.
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	New York City Metropolitan Area Maps, 45 maps, 1767-1943, n.d. 1880-1940 These maps document the New York City Metropolitan Area . A map is identified as New York City Metropolitan Area if it documents any borough of New York City and the surrounding area.
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	New York County (Manhattan Island) Maps, 43 maps, 1640-1968, n.d. 1880-1890 These maps document just New York County on Manhattan Island in the form of road maps, political boundary maps, and more. The maps are listed in date published order.
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	New York State Maps, 79 maps, 1673-1976, n.d. 1880-1898 These maps document New York State, not just the counties of Long Island and New York City Metropolitan Area in the form of political boundary maps. The maps are listed in date published order.
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	Park Maps, 15 maps, 1907-1996   These maps document the layout and buildings of parks on Long Island. They are listed in alphabetical order by park name and then in date published order.
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	Queens County Maps, 1,729 maps, 1656-1996, n.d. 17th century - 1970 The “(JFK)” of Jamaica Town (JFK), Springfield Gardens (JFK) and South Ozone Park (JFK) are maps documenting the land that became John F. Kennedy Airport.
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	Revolutionary War Maps, 26 maps, 1776-1909, n.d. 1776-1909 These maps document military activities on Long Island during the Revolutionary War. The contemporary maps are photocopies of National Archives and New York Public Library maps.
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	Suffolk County Maps, 239 maps, 1798-1991, n.d. 1830-1950   These maps document the villages, towns and county of Suffolk County. The maps are hand-drawn surveyor's maps, real estate maps, street maps, land ownership maps and more.
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	Transportation Maps - Airports, 13 maps, 1929-1982 These maps document airports on Long Island, New York City, New York City Metropolitan Area, New York State and the United States.
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	Tansportation Maps - Bicycles, 2 maps, 2002 These maps document bicycle routes on Long Island, New York City, New York City Metropolitan Area, New York State and the United States.
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	Transportation Maps - Bridges, 8 maps, 1908-1939, n.d. 1900-1920 These maps document bridges on Long Island, New York City, New York City Metropolitan Area, New York State and the United States.
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	Transportation Maps - Buses, 30 maps, 1951-2005, n.d. 1980-1990 These maps document bus routes on Long Island, New York City, New York City Metropolitan Area, New York State and the United States.
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	Transportation Maps - Canals, 5 maps, 1870-1914 These maps document canals on Long Island, New York City, New York City Metropolitan Area, New York State and the United States.
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	Transportation Maps - Multiple Lines, 44 maps, 1852 - 2006 These maps document multiple modes of transportation and routes on Long Island, New York City, New York City Metropolitan Area, New York State and the United States.
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	Transportation Maps - Railroads, 66 maps, 1869-1992 These maps document railroad routes on Long Island, New York City, New York City Metropolitan Area, New York State and the United States.
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	Transportation Maps - Roads, 182 maps, 1704-1989, n.d. 1880-1980   These maps document roads on Long Island, New York City, New York City Metropolitan Area, New York State and the United States.
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	Transportation Maps - Street-Railways, 4 maps, 1919-1920 These maps document street-railroad routes on Long Island, New York City, New York City Metropolitan Area, New York State and the United States.
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	Transportation Maps - Subways, 63 maps, 1903-1996 These maps document subway routes on Long Island, New York City, New York City Metropolitan Area, New York State and the United States.
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	Transportation Maps - Tunnels, 1 map, 1940 These maps document tunnels on Long Island, New York City, New York City Metropolitan Area, New York State and the United States.
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	Transportation Maps - Yachting Routes, 1 map, 1934 These maps document yachting routes on Long Island, New York City, New York City Metropolitan Area, New York State and the United States.
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	United States Maps, 7 maps, 1815-1987 These maps document more than the three states comprising of the New York City Metropolitan Area – New Jersey, New York and Connecticut. They document the political boundaries of the states. They are listed in date published order.
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	Waterways Maps, 24 maps, 1780-1979, n.d. 1890-1900 These maps document the waterways on and around Long Island.
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	Wetlands Maps, 21 maps, 1875-1987 These maps document wetlands in Queens County. All of the maps except for one of Jamaica Bay are part of the New York State Freshwater Wetlands Map Series.
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	World's Fair Collection - Maps, 90 maps, 1937-1964 These maps are part of the Long Island Division's World's Fair 1939-1940 and 1964-1965 Collections. They document the fairgrounds and transportation to the fair.
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