If you know how to read it, what can a map tell you?  Maps have been made to show newly discovered lands, changes in human settlement, how high above sea level a place is, and the outline of a coastline.   Maps might tell you who owns which piece of land, how the land is used or zoned, where a waterway is likely to flood, or where wetlands are.  Maps can help insurance companies understand a neighborhood and show what buildings materials were used.  Locally, maps show us where springs, coal mines, and canals once existed.

The first thing to look for on a map is the Compass Rose.  A compass rose acts as a direction finder on a map.  It shows the Cardinal Directions, which are the four main directions (North, South, East, and West).  Next, find the Scale: it tells you the relationship between the distance on a map and the actual distance on the Earth.  A small-scale map, like the map of a country, shows a large area of the world with very little detail.  A large-scale map shows a lot of detail in a small area, for instance a city or neighborhood map.  The map Legend or Key tells what the symbols on a map mean—towns, cities, roads, waterways, and so on.

Over the years many different kinds of maps have been made of the Mahoning Valley.  From the 1755 map drawn by Lewis Evans that hoped to draw attention to French encroachments and opportunities for expansion west of the Allegheny Mountains, to the detailed satellite maps of today, we have an enormous variety of area maps to tell us about the place in which we live. 

Why is the 1870 map called a ‘birdseye’ view?  How many of the buildings are new on the 1874 map?  What new symbols do you see on the 1900 map? Without a legend, how can you tell what things are?  Visit the Arms Family Museum or www.mahoninghistory.org (Education; What Do You Know) to see these and many more maps of the Mahoning Valley over the last 2 centuries. 

Measure your classroom and make a large-scale map of it.  Make another map of your school and playground.  Which is a smaller-scale map?

Download the map images from the MVHS website www.mahoninghistory.org (Education; What Do You Know) and compare them.  Are all the street names the same?

How many of the maps show a canal? Which map shows streetcar tracks through downtown?  Does the bridge to the South Side from Market Street change on any of the maps?