Universal York

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More on historical atlases of York County and other counties.

Small section of Lower Windsor Township page from 1876 atlas

My previous post was on the combined 1876 York County township atlas and 1903 York City atlas. A friend just reminded me that the South Central Pennsylvania Genealogical Society published two indexes to the 1876 atlas. The indexes are available for use at the York County Heritage Trust Library/Archives, or you can order your own copies through the South Central Pennsylvania Genealogical Society website.

The indexes are publications 44 and 45. Here is a brief description I cut and pasted from the SCPGS website:

44 INDIVIDUAL NAME INDEX to the 1876 ATLAS of YORK COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
Introduction, Letter Abbreviations Key & Atlas Page Identifiers
Alphabetized, cross referenced and coded indexes to the 1876 Atlas of York County, Pennsylvania. Includes all individual names identified on the pages of borough maps, business notices, pictorial illustrations, township maps, and village maps included in the atlas.
[October 1990 – 131 pages] $20.00 plus shipping.

45 “SUBJECT INDEX to the 1876 ATLAS of YORK COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA”
Introduction, Letter Abbreviations Key & Atlas Page Identifiers
Alphabetized, cross referenced and coded indexes to the 1876 Atlas of York County, Pennsylvania. Includes all subjects identified on the pages of borough maps, business notices, pictorial illustrations, township maps, and village maps included in the atlas. Subjects include agricultural and manufactured products, companies, creeks, industries, post offices, railroad stations, roads, runs, stores, towns and villages, etc.
[April 1991 – 87 pages] $15.00 plus shipping.

44&45 INDIVIDUAL NAME & SUBJECT INDEX to the 1876 ATLAS of YORK COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA purchased together $30.00 plus shipping.

County atlases were quite popular during the last half of the 19th century up into the early 20th century. Most were hand colored. You can sometimes find an original at an auction or used book shop, but they may be quite pricey. Unfortunately, resellers often take the atlases apart and sell them page by page. The reprints are usually black and white, but with good enough resolution to be easily readable, at least with a magnifying glass.

When I was volunteering yesterday I made a list of county atlases available for use at the YCHT Library/Archives. They are mainly for nearby counties and are mostly reprints. See list below:

Adams County, 1872 (1976).
Baltimore County, Md. 1877 (1968).
Bucks County, 1876 & 1891 (1992).
Carroll County, Md., 1877 (1993).
Carroll County, Md., 1916.
Chester County 1873.
Columbia and Montour Counties, 1876 (2002).
Cumberland County, 1872 (1976).
Dauphin County, 1875 (1985).
Franklin County, 1868 (1993).
Lancaster County, 1864 (2000).
Lancaster County, 1899 (2006).
Luzerne County, 1873.
Mercer County, 1873 (1975).
Montgomery County, 1871 (1986).
Perry, Juniata and Mifflin 1887 (1975).

Some are indexed with the reprint, some have separate indexes and some have no indexes. All are fascinating.

I’ll cover large county wall maps in one of my upcoming posts.