A vintage map section showing parts of New Orleans and nearby areas, including Lake Ouatcha and Lake Washa. Features include Fort St. Leon, Woodville, and Jackson with labeled roads and waterways like Bayou Barataria and Bayou Rigolettes.

Cartographic Legacies

Historical Maps at the Williams Research Center

Rare maps shed light on early exploration, Native Americans, colonial development, warfare and diplomacy, maritime and river navigation, and economic development.

Cartographic Legacies

Historical Maps at the Williams Research Center

Rare maps shed light on early exploration, Native Americans, colonial development, warfare and diplomacy, maritime and river navigation, and economic development.

September 28 to December 11, 2021

Williams Research Center
410 Chartres Street

Historic maps reveal so much about the geographic understanding, priorities, and preconceptions of their makers, the governmental entities that commissioned them, and the audience for which they were intended. An early 17th-century map of America by Flemish publisher Jodocus Hondius was the first item in the museum’s holdings, and over the last 45 years, the institution’s map collection has continued to grow.

Cartographic Legacies showcases a selection of noteworthy maps collected by L. Kemper Williams, who cofounded the Historic New Orleans Collection with his wife Leila Moore Williams, and pairs them with thematically related examples acquired since his death in 1971. Providing a taste of HNOC’s diverse and extensive cartographic holdings, the exhibition addresses early exploration, Native Americans, colonial development, warfare and diplomacy, maritime and river navigation, economic development, and travel.