South Caroliniana Library Map Collection

The map collection of the South Caroliniana Library has always been a significant resource for geographers, historians, and genealogists. In the past two hundred years, technological changes have substantially altered the landscape of South Carolina, and the library’s map collection visually documents these transformations. The maps show airports, battlefields, cemeteries, churches, cities, highways, Native American territories, postal routes, railroads, schools, topographical features, towns, and urban, rural, and African American slave populations. Taken together, the maps chart the state’s urbanization over time. The collection also contains a number of maps dating from the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries, which are vital to researchers interested in the history of cartography.