Need a source for historical road maps

[Jason Weiser]

Hey guys,
Am writing an adventure centered in VA, and I am trying to get some road maps ca. 1997 for obvious reasons. Anyone know a good online source for them? I don't need anything better than road maps, I can do the terrain analysis via Google Earth.

Please let me know? I have tried several searches, but the answer is probably painfully obvious.

[Raellus]

This site might be of some assistance

https://www.historicaerials.com/

-Rae

[Slappy]

Don't worry. I can tell you that there hasn't been any substantial road construction in VA since 1997. They just let the traffic pile up get bigger and bigger. :)

[.45cultist]

If you have a used book store, you can check the "Travel" section. This is where you can find Fodars and other guide books with specific points of interest too.

[unkated]

Rand McNally Road Atlas. They do a new one each year, but you can look for older ones, either online or in libraries. (I bought one in the 1980s, and tossed it in the trunk of 3 cars in series for emergency use. I replaced it about 5 years ago since it was falling apart. My son laughed at me and said there was no need for a paper backup.)

You can also try a bookstore. They usually have a map section; you can see how old the maps are.

You could try a gas station near Virginia. Some still carry maps, but most no longer have them (doesn't everyone have maps via smartphone?).

When I was a teen, I went a a couple long trips in summers and began collecting road maps. I had about collected road maps of 40 states. These lived in a box for about 35 years, then I recycled them.

Uncle Ted

[unkated]

Rand McNally Road Atlas. They do a new one each year, but you can look for older ones, either online or in libraries.

Just did a quick search for Road Atlas 2000; Amazon has some Rand McNally 2000s (from $8.98), and an AAA 1999. So, some judicious searching may find you just what you need.

Uncle Ted

[swaghauler]

Hey guys,
Am writing an adventure centered in VA, and I am trying to get some road maps ca. 1997 for obvious reasons. Does anyone know a good online source for them? I don't need anything better than road maps, I can do the terrain analysis via Google Earth.

Please let me know? I have tried several searches, but the answer is probably painfully obvious.

Don't forget the US Geological Survey's Archived maps. Most of them are UTM Topographic Maps but they often include man-made features.

[StainlessSteelCynic]

Apologies for the length of the url, I zoomed the map to Virginia so the web address is overly specific. You'll have to narrow the timeline down via the slider as there's a large range of maps dating from the early 1800s in their catalogue.
https://www.oldmapsonline.org/en/Virginia#bbox=-83.67541306,36.54078958000001,-75.16643503999998,39.46601193000001&q=&date_from=1980&date_to=2000&scale_from=&scale_to=

The site might not have the exact regions you want but hopefully there's some maps in there that will give you what you need.

As a general resource this site is pretty decent so for anyone who just wants the main web page, here's the link https://www.oldmapsonline.org/

[bash]

Another vote for Rand McNally road atlases. You can find them cheap on eBay as well. Just include the year in your search rather than just "old" or something. Road atlases tend to be updated regularly.

[mpipes]

mapstor.com

[mcchordsage]

Most of VDOT's county highway maps are 2005 or earlier in their pdf form. I've got a bunch of early 2000s state and county highway maps as well. The county maps are all western VA/Shenandoah Valley though.

https://www.virginiadot.org/travel/county_maps.asp

[bigehauser]

Hey guys,
Am writing an adventure centered in VA, and I am trying to get some road maps ca. 1997 for obvious reasons. Anyone know a good online source for them? I don't need anything better than road maps, I can do the terrain analysis via Google Earth.

Please let me know? I have tried several searches, but the answer is probably painfully obvious.

Will the player characters be securing the NRA National Headquarters in Fairfax?

[Jason Weiser]

Will the player characters be securing the NRA National Headquarters in Fairfax?

Nope, little to the west, and a whole lot more important.