Leventhal Map & Education Center
@bplmaps.bsky.social
We use maps, geography, and history to understand the connection between people and places in Boston, New England, and beyond.
linktr.ee/bplmaps
linktr.ee/bplmaps
Wrapping up midterms assignments or trying to get ahead on your finals? Check out LMEC's research guides! 🔍📖
Whether looking to do some research or looking to do some quick learning of a new subject, we encourage you to check out this resource!
Check out the link in bio for LMEC's research guides
Whether looking to do some research or looking to do some quick learning of a new subject, we encourage you to check out this resource!
Check out the link in bio for LMEC's research guides
November 12, 2025 at 4:34 PM
Wrapping up midterms assignments or trying to get ahead on your finals? Check out LMEC's research guides! 🔍📖
Whether looking to do some research or looking to do some quick learning of a new subject, we encourage you to check out this resource!
Check out the link in bio for LMEC's research guides
Whether looking to do some research or looking to do some quick learning of a new subject, we encourage you to check out this resource!
Check out the link in bio for LMEC's research guides
❗Join us this Friday, Nov 14 for our next map collection showing❗
In this installment of From the Vault, we’ll look at maps that demonstrate historic and contemporary shifts to place names.
#bpl #LMEC #maps #bostonmaps #localhistory #bostonhistory #bostonmuseum #thingstodoinboston #bostontourism
In this installment of From the Vault, we’ll look at maps that demonstrate historic and contemporary shifts to place names.
#bpl #LMEC #maps #bostonmaps #localhistory #bostonhistory #bostonmuseum #thingstodoinboston #bostontourism
November 10, 2025 at 4:34 PM
❗Join us this Friday, Nov 14 for our next map collection showing❗
In this installment of From the Vault, we’ll look at maps that demonstrate historic and contemporary shifts to place names.
#bpl #LMEC #maps #bostonmaps #localhistory #bostonhistory #bostonmuseum #thingstodoinboston #bostontourism
In this installment of From the Vault, we’ll look at maps that demonstrate historic and contemporary shifts to place names.
#bpl #LMEC #maps #bostonmaps #localhistory #bostonhistory #bostonmuseum #thingstodoinboston #bostontourism
Reposted by Leventhal Map & Education Center
As someone who’s spent many solo hours soaking up the details of old maps — for stories, for my book, and for fun — what a treat it was on a rainy day to chaperone a fourth-grade field trip to @bplmaps.bsky.social and see some of the Leventhal collection through their eyes
October 20, 2025 at 3:53 PM
As someone who’s spent many solo hours soaking up the details of old maps — for stories, for my book, and for fun — what a treat it was on a rainy day to chaperone a fourth-grade field trip to @bplmaps.bsky.social and see some of the Leventhal collection through their eyes
❗Join us November 13 for a conversation in the Brown Seminar Series on women property holders of Boston’s waterfront in the late 1700s with professor Katy Lasdow❗
Use the link in our bio to register for the event.
#bpl #LMEC #maps #bostonmaps #localhistory #bostonhistory #bostonmuseum
Use the link in our bio to register for the event.
#bpl #LMEC #maps #bostonmaps #localhistory #bostonhistory #bostonmuseum
November 7, 2025 at 7:44 PM
❗Join us November 13 for a conversation in the Brown Seminar Series on women property holders of Boston’s waterfront in the late 1700s with professor Katy Lasdow❗
Use the link in our bio to register for the event.
#bpl #LMEC #maps #bostonmaps #localhistory #bostonhistory #bostonmuseum
Use the link in our bio to register for the event.
#bpl #LMEC #maps #bostonmaps #localhistory #bostonhistory #bostonmuseum
📖 Wanna find a shop’s address in the 19th century? Better pull out ye olde tome of addresses!
Map: Map of Boston: engraved expressly for Clark's Boston blue book (1885)
Source: BPL Research Guides, Internet Archive
#bpl #LMEC #maps #bostonmaps #localhistory #bostonhistory #bostontourism
Map: Map of Boston: engraved expressly for Clark's Boston blue book (1885)
Source: BPL Research Guides, Internet Archive
#bpl #LMEC #maps #bostonmaps #localhistory #bostonhistory #bostontourism
November 4, 2025 at 7:38 PM
📖 Wanna find a shop’s address in the 19th century? Better pull out ye olde tome of addresses!
Map: Map of Boston: engraved expressly for Clark's Boston blue book (1885)
Source: BPL Research Guides, Internet Archive
#bpl #LMEC #maps #bostonmaps #localhistory #bostonhistory #bostontourism
Map: Map of Boston: engraved expressly for Clark's Boston blue book (1885)
Source: BPL Research Guides, Internet Archive
#bpl #LMEC #maps #bostonmaps #localhistory #bostonhistory #bostontourism
Frequently Asked Questions: Atlascope Edition! 🔍
Use this guide to refresh yourself on Atlascope's intricacies or to get a better understanding of this tool before jumping to research. If you had additional questions about Atlascope, please leave them in the comments so we can answer them here.
Use this guide to refresh yourself on Atlascope's intricacies or to get a better understanding of this tool before jumping to research. If you had additional questions about Atlascope, please leave them in the comments so we can answer them here.
November 2, 2025 at 4:34 PM
Frequently Asked Questions: Atlascope Edition! 🔍
Use this guide to refresh yourself on Atlascope's intricacies or to get a better understanding of this tool before jumping to research. If you had additional questions about Atlascope, please leave them in the comments so we can answer them here.
Use this guide to refresh yourself on Atlascope's intricacies or to get a better understanding of this tool before jumping to research. If you had additional questions about Atlascope, please leave them in the comments so we can answer them here.
If your hometown doesn’t look a little like a horror movie set every Fall, are you really living in New England? 👻🎃🕷️
Maps: Map of Salem Village 1692 (1866), Berlin Falls, N.H., and Berlin Mills (1888), The journey, or, cross roads ... [ca. 1831–1836]
Sources: Digital Commonwealth, Wikimedia
Maps: Map of Salem Village 1692 (1866), Berlin Falls, N.H., and Berlin Mills (1888), The journey, or, cross roads ... [ca. 1831–1836]
Sources: Digital Commonwealth, Wikimedia
October 31, 2025 at 3:34 PM
If your hometown doesn’t look a little like a horror movie set every Fall, are you really living in New England? 👻🎃🕷️
Maps: Map of Salem Village 1692 (1866), Berlin Falls, N.H., and Berlin Mills (1888), The journey, or, cross roads ... [ca. 1831–1836]
Sources: Digital Commonwealth, Wikimedia
Maps: Map of Salem Village 1692 (1866), Berlin Falls, N.H., and Berlin Mills (1888), The journey, or, cross roads ... [ca. 1831–1836]
Sources: Digital Commonwealth, Wikimedia
AI is already transforming how we live, work, and communicate. But how will it change democracy?
Use the link in our bio to register for event reminders. This program is co-hosted by BPL Digital Services and kicks off a series of digital talks on AI in library collections.
#maps #AI
Use the link in our bio to register for event reminders. This program is co-hosted by BPL Digital Services and kicks off a series of digital talks on AI in library collections.
#maps #AI
October 29, 2025 at 3:34 PM
Charlestown has its own set of mysteries… including what it used look like! 🫣
October 26, 2025 at 1:30 PM
Charlestown has its own set of mysteries… including what it used look like! 🫣
🎃Join us this Halloween (Friday, Oct 31) to take a peak at some Creepy Cartography!👻
Be warned: these maps are not for the faint of heart!
This free showing will be Friday, October 31 in the Leventhal Map & Education Center with staff members available to answer questions.
#bpl #maps #halloween
Be warned: these maps are not for the faint of heart!
This free showing will be Friday, October 31 in the Leventhal Map & Education Center with staff members available to answer questions.
#bpl #maps #halloween
October 25, 2025 at 3:34 PM
🎃Join us this Halloween (Friday, Oct 31) to take a peak at some Creepy Cartography!👻
Be warned: these maps are not for the faint of heart!
This free showing will be Friday, October 31 in the Leventhal Map & Education Center with staff members available to answer questions.
#bpl #maps #halloween
Be warned: these maps are not for the faint of heart!
This free showing will be Friday, October 31 in the Leventhal Map & Education Center with staff members available to answer questions.
#bpl #maps #halloween
We'll always have Paris! Well, maybe...
In this session we’ll look at historic and contemporary shifts to place names and offer classroom-ready strategies for exploring this topic with middle and high school students.
Register for this free program now now via the link in bio.
#bpl #LMEC #maps
In this session we’ll look at historic and contemporary shifts to place names and offer classroom-ready strategies for exploring this topic with middle and high school students.
Register for this free program now now via the link in bio.
#bpl #LMEC #maps
October 21, 2025 at 3:34 PM
Reposted by Leventhal Map & Education Center
I’m very pleased to share my open-access digital article, published in partnership with @bplmaps.bsky.social
titled “Playing and Learning World Geography in the Seventeenth Century” 👇
www.leventhalmap.org/articles/pla...
titled “Playing and Learning World Geography in the Seventeenth Century” 👇
www.leventhalmap.org/articles/pla...
Playing and Learning World Geography in the Seventeenth Century - Leventhal Map & Education Center at the Boston Public Library
What card games can tell us about the geographical imagination
www.leventhalmap.org
October 11, 2025 at 9:31 AM
I’m very pleased to share my open-access digital article, published in partnership with @bplmaps.bsky.social
titled “Playing and Learning World Geography in the Seventeenth Century” 👇
www.leventhalmap.org/articles/pla...
titled “Playing and Learning World Geography in the Seventeenth Century” 👇
www.leventhalmap.org/articles/pla...
🫖All this rainy weather’s making us thirsty for a hot cup of Earl Grey. Good thing Boston has a barrel-sized tea kettle in City Hall Plaza!
Map: Insurance Maps of Boston, vol. 1 (1882)
Sources: Boston.com
Images: Digital Commonwealth, Historic New England
#bpl #LMEC #maps #bostonmaps #localhistory
Map: Insurance Maps of Boston, vol. 1 (1882)
Sources: Boston.com
Images: Digital Commonwealth, Historic New England
#bpl #LMEC #maps #bostonmaps #localhistory
October 19, 2025 at 3:34 PM
🫖All this rainy weather’s making us thirsty for a hot cup of Earl Grey. Good thing Boston has a barrel-sized tea kettle in City Hall Plaza!
Map: Insurance Maps of Boston, vol. 1 (1882)
Sources: Boston.com
Images: Digital Commonwealth, Historic New England
#bpl #LMEC #maps #bostonmaps #localhistory
Map: Insurance Maps of Boston, vol. 1 (1882)
Sources: Boston.com
Images: Digital Commonwealth, Historic New England
#bpl #LMEC #maps #bostonmaps #localhistory
(Signal) changes are happening at the MBTA!
Maps: Boston elevated railway system (1899), Boston Elevated Railway lines operated 1925 (1925), MBTA map : 1977-1978 (1977)
Image: WBUR
Sources: WBUR, MBTA
#bpl #LMEC #maps #bostonmaps #localhistory #bostonhistory #MBTA #orangeline #redline
Maps: Boston elevated railway system (1899), Boston Elevated Railway lines operated 1925 (1925), MBTA map : 1977-1978 (1977)
Image: WBUR
Sources: WBUR, MBTA
#bpl #LMEC #maps #bostonmaps #localhistory #bostonhistory #MBTA #orangeline #redline
October 15, 2025 at 3:34 PM
(Signal) changes are happening at the MBTA!
Maps: Boston elevated railway system (1899), Boston Elevated Railway lines operated 1925 (1925), MBTA map : 1977-1978 (1977)
Image: WBUR
Sources: WBUR, MBTA
#bpl #LMEC #maps #bostonmaps #localhistory #bostonhistory #MBTA #orangeline #redline
Maps: Boston elevated railway system (1899), Boston Elevated Railway lines operated 1925 (1925), MBTA map : 1977-1978 (1977)
Image: WBUR
Sources: WBUR, MBTA
#bpl #LMEC #maps #bostonmaps #localhistory #bostonhistory #MBTA #orangeline #redline
Please join us in congratulating Margaret Wickens Pearce on being named a MacArthur Fellow and thanking her for her extraordinary contributions to the field of cartography!
Read more about the award: buff.ly/XIMH3QA
Read more about the award: buff.ly/XIMH3QA
October 13, 2025 at 3:34 PM
Please join us in congratulating Margaret Wickens Pearce on being named a MacArthur Fellow and thanking her for her extraordinary contributions to the field of cartography!
Read more about the award: buff.ly/XIMH3QA
Read more about the award: buff.ly/XIMH3QA
If you’re ever booking a flight to Boston, make sure you’re going to the right one! Wouldn’t wanna accidentally end up in Australia 🫠
#bpl #LMEC #maps #bostonmaps #localhistory #bostonhistory #bostonmuseum #thingstodoinboston #bostontourism
#bpl #LMEC #maps #bostonmaps #localhistory #bostonhistory #bostonmuseum #thingstodoinboston #bostontourism
October 10, 2025 at 9:31 PM
If you’re ever booking a flight to Boston, make sure you’re going to the right one! Wouldn’t wanna accidentally end up in Australia 🫠
#bpl #LMEC #maps #bostonmaps #localhistory #bostonhistory #bostonmuseum #thingstodoinboston #bostontourism
#bpl #LMEC #maps #bostonmaps #localhistory #bostonhistory #bostonmuseum #thingstodoinboston #bostontourism
It can be nice to catch glimpses of the past in our everyday lives 🪞
Source: Boston Preservation Alliance
Map: Atlas of the County of Suffolk, Massachusetts, Vol. 2 (1873), Map of Boston [1886]
Images: Historic New England, Boston Preservation Alliance
#maps #bostonmaps #localhistory #architecture
Source: Boston Preservation Alliance
Map: Atlas of the County of Suffolk, Massachusetts, Vol. 2 (1873), Map of Boston [1886]
Images: Historic New England, Boston Preservation Alliance
#maps #bostonmaps #localhistory #architecture
October 9, 2025 at 3:34 PM
It can be nice to catch glimpses of the past in our everyday lives 🪞
Source: Boston Preservation Alliance
Map: Atlas of the County of Suffolk, Massachusetts, Vol. 2 (1873), Map of Boston [1886]
Images: Historic New England, Boston Preservation Alliance
#maps #bostonmaps #localhistory #architecture
Source: Boston Preservation Alliance
Map: Atlas of the County of Suffolk, Massachusetts, Vol. 2 (1873), Map of Boston [1886]
Images: Historic New England, Boston Preservation Alliance
#maps #bostonmaps #localhistory #architecture
❗Join us this Friday, October 10, for a Map Collections Showing as we delve into cities, neighborhoods and regions that either had just or were soon to experience a massive disaster❗
October 6, 2025 at 9:40 PM
❗Join us this Friday, October 10, for a Map Collections Showing as we delve into cities, neighborhoods and regions that either had just or were soon to experience a massive disaster❗
Remember that time Boston hosted the world’s largest tech convention? Yeah, we don't either 🥲
Map: New map of Boston giving all points of interest... (1883)
Images: Digital Commonwealth, Historic New England, The Huntington
#bpl #LMEC #maps #bostonmaps #localhistory
Map: New map of Boston giving all points of interest... (1883)
Images: Digital Commonwealth, Historic New England, The Huntington
#bpl #LMEC #maps #bostonmaps #localhistory
October 3, 2025 at 3:34 PM
Remember that time Boston hosted the world’s largest tech convention? Yeah, we don't either 🥲
Map: New map of Boston giving all points of interest... (1883)
Images: Digital Commonwealth, Historic New England, The Huntington
#bpl #LMEC #maps #bostonmaps #localhistory
Map: New map of Boston giving all points of interest... (1883)
Images: Digital Commonwealth, Historic New England, The Huntington
#bpl #LMEC #maps #bostonmaps #localhistory
What are the odds the spoon you're using for your matcha will be a historic object one day? Well, it's greater than zero! ☝🏽😌
Objects: Pewter spoon with relief portrait of King George I [early 1700s], Powder horn with map of Boston and Charlestown (1777), Lead Musket Ball (1775)
Objects: Pewter spoon with relief portrait of King George I [early 1700s], Powder horn with map of Boston and Charlestown (1777), Lead Musket Ball (1775)
October 2, 2025 at 3:34 PM
What are the odds the spoon you're using for your matcha will be a historic object one day? Well, it's greater than zero! ☝🏽😌
Objects: Pewter spoon with relief portrait of King George I [early 1700s], Powder horn with map of Boston and Charlestown (1777), Lead Musket Ball (1775)
Objects: Pewter spoon with relief portrait of King George I [early 1700s], Powder horn with map of Boston and Charlestown (1777), Lead Musket Ball (1775)
Atlascope is like onions—it has layers! You get it? We both have layers 🧅
Check out the newest layers on Atlascope with the link in our bio!
Map: Atlas of Boston neighborhoods based on the Direct Tax Census of 1798 (1900)
Images: Aerial imagery of Massachusetts (1990-1999)
Check out the newest layers on Atlascope with the link in our bio!
Map: Atlas of Boston neighborhoods based on the Direct Tax Census of 1798 (1900)
Images: Aerial imagery of Massachusetts (1990-1999)
September 28, 2025 at 3:34 PM
Atlascope is like onions—it has layers! You get it? We both have layers 🧅
Check out the newest layers on Atlascope with the link in our bio!
Map: Atlas of Boston neighborhoods based on the Direct Tax Census of 1798 (1900)
Images: Aerial imagery of Massachusetts (1990-1999)
Check out the newest layers on Atlascope with the link in our bio!
Map: Atlas of Boston neighborhoods based on the Direct Tax Census of 1798 (1900)
Images: Aerial imagery of Massachusetts (1990-1999)
🏔️What do Worcester, Newton, and Somerville have in common with Rome, Italy? (Supposedly?) all of them were founded on seven hills!🏔️
Maps: Pianta di Roma (1835), Map of Somerville, Mass (1852), Plan of Worcester made by H. Stebbins, dated 1831 (1831), Map of the town of Newton, Mass (1831)
Maps: Pianta di Roma (1835), Map of Somerville, Mass (1852), Plan of Worcester made by H. Stebbins, dated 1831 (1831), Map of the town of Newton, Mass (1831)
September 27, 2025 at 3:34 PM
🏔️What do Worcester, Newton, and Somerville have in common with Rome, Italy? (Supposedly?) all of them were founded on seven hills!🏔️
Maps: Pianta di Roma (1835), Map of Somerville, Mass (1852), Plan of Worcester made by H. Stebbins, dated 1831 (1831), Map of the town of Newton, Mass (1831)
Maps: Pianta di Roma (1835), Map of Somerville, Mass (1852), Plan of Worcester made by H. Stebbins, dated 1831 (1831), Map of the town of Newton, Mass (1831)
🔍Maps can foster curiosity and help young learners make sense of the world around them🔎
In this workshop, we’ll explore how to use both historic maps and mapping activities to build spatial thinking and support cross-curricular learning in elementary classrooms.
Register with the link in bio.
In this workshop, we’ll explore how to use both historic maps and mapping activities to build spatial thinking and support cross-curricular learning in elementary classrooms.
Register with the link in bio.
September 24, 2025 at 3:34 PM
🔍Maps can foster curiosity and help young learners make sense of the world around them🔎
In this workshop, we’ll explore how to use both historic maps and mapping activities to build spatial thinking and support cross-curricular learning in elementary classrooms.
Register with the link in bio.
In this workshop, we’ll explore how to use both historic maps and mapping activities to build spatial thinking and support cross-curricular learning in elementary classrooms.
Register with the link in bio.
You think paper maps are old school? How about maps carved into giant chunks of marble?🤯
Maps: Carta topografica dell'antichità di Roma (1805), Forma Urbis Romae (200 CE)
Source: Stanford Digital Forma Urbis Romae Project
Maps: Carta topografica dell'antichità di Roma (1805), Forma Urbis Romae (200 CE)
Source: Stanford Digital Forma Urbis Romae Project
September 21, 2025 at 3:34 PM
You think paper maps are old school? How about maps carved into giant chunks of marble?🤯
Maps: Carta topografica dell'antichità di Roma (1805), Forma Urbis Romae (200 CE)
Source: Stanford Digital Forma Urbis Romae Project
Maps: Carta topografica dell'antichità di Roma (1805), Forma Urbis Romae (200 CE)
Source: Stanford Digital Forma Urbis Romae Project
So… what if we told you the world map you’re used to seeing isn’t actually an "accurate" depiction of the world we inhabit? 🥴
Maps: Mercator map of the world (1931), Peters World map (2006)
Source: NPR
Maps: Mercator map of the world (1931), Peters World map (2006)
Source: NPR
September 19, 2025 at 3:34 PM
So… what if we told you the world map you’re used to seeing isn’t actually an "accurate" depiction of the world we inhabit? 🥴
Maps: Mercator map of the world (1931), Peters World map (2006)
Source: NPR
Maps: Mercator map of the world (1931), Peters World map (2006)
Source: NPR