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City unveils catalog of 1,800 historic maps after state grant, opens public access by appointment
Summary
City records management staff and interns cataloged roughly 1,800 historic maps into a new collection-management system with help from a South Carolina Historical Records Advisory Board grant; the collection is now searchable online and available to researchers by appointment.
City of Charleston staff on Sept. 9 presented the results of a cataloging project that made roughly 1,800 archival maps, plats and engineering drawings searchable and publicly accessible for the first time.
Records management staff said the work was funded by a South Carolina State Historical Records Advisory Board grant that paid for a six-month project archivist and a collection-management program. “The grant enabled us to acquire a collection management program to hire a project archivist for 6 months,” Records Management staff member Meg Meyer told the council, noting that the collection previously was indexed on paper cards and hard to search.
Project archivist Jacob Mossbrook, a Clemson University historic-preservation student, and records specialist Kendall John described highlights from the catalog: a federal coast chart from 1886, Olmsted brothers plans for Cannon Park, a 1901 subway proposal blueprint, naval-base engineering plans, early-school-district maps showing segregation-era patterns, and auction plats. The presenters said the map collection ranges from the mid-1800s into the early 2000s.
Why it matters: The newly searchable catalog aims to make municipal maps and plats available to historians, planners, researchers and the public, and to inform present-day planning and conservation decisions.
Access and next steps: The records division said the catalog is publicly accessible online and physical materials are available by appointment at the Gilliard Center, 9 a.m.–5 p.m. Records staff said they will continue to add metadata and expand the online finding aids.
Quotes from staff: “It was in cabinet system on index cards,” Kendall John said of the previous organization. Jacob Mossbrook highlighted items of public interest, including the Olmsted brothers’ plans and an 1886 federal coast chart that stretches from Hunting Island to what is now Isle of Palms.
Ending: Staff requested continued council support for archival work; no formal council vote was required.
