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They are land ownership maps. The Archives and Special Collections has many cadastral maps, both as sheet maps and in atlases. Library records for most of these maps and atlases are in the library catalog and can be found using subject terms and key words such as cadastral, real property maps, landowner maps, land use, and General Land Office. Here is a sample list of local cadastral atlases in the Archives and Special Collections: Clay County Atlas, 1901 Standard Atlas of Clay County, 1912 Atlas of Clay and Union Counties, 1924 Atlas of Clay and Union Counties, 1960 Atlas of Clay and Union Counties, 1980 Atlas of Clay County, 1990, Centennial Series Farm and Home Directories: Clay, Lincoln, Turner, Union, and Yankton Counties, 1984-present. Cadastral maps are helpful to historians, genealogists, archaeologists, and those tracing landowners for legal reasons. Though cadastral maps are often reliable, the ultimate source of past and present ownership information is still the county courthouse. Keep in mind, ownership is only one type of land / human relationship. The others are harder to map.

Recently added to the Archives and Special Collections website are instructions for navigating and searching through finding aids on ArchivesSpace: The Archives and Special Collections department is moving our Richardson Collection finding aids to ArchivesSpace. Though the physical location and the format of the finding aids are changing, you can continue to access the finding aids through the Archives and Special Collections website. We also added to our website instructions for navigating and searching in ArchivesSpace. The instructions can be found by clicking on the line “Finding Aids (collection guides)” on our website.

Check out the food enjoyed by Ruth Egge and her family while on a cruise ship in 1910. From the Ruth March Egge Papers. Richardson Collections. Archives and Special Collections. University of South Dakota.

Missouri River Commission maps, 1892-1895, showing Vermillion and Burbank, SD area. Though the name never appeared on a map, the bend of the Missouri River south of Burbank, SD was called Negro Bend. The French named it after a local settlement of Black woodcutters who sold fuel wood to steamboats. On many maps, the region is called Kate Sweeney Bend, after a steamboat that sunk in the area in 1855. Source: Carlberg, Janet Joyce. “A study of place-names in Clay County, South Dakota.” Master’s Thesis, University of South Dakota, 1962. Call number LD 5071.3x .C1918. This thesis and the Missouri River Commission maps are in the Archives and Special Collections.

The atlases contained information on routes, hotels, gas stations, car repair shops, road conditions (including which roads to avoid when it is muddy and which roads had sharp turns). The ads in the book are beautiful and informative about car culture. Volume Ten is in the Archives and Special Collections. Library of Congress sponsors #ArchivesHashtagParty once a month, and March’s topic is #ArchivesYouAreHere. LOC invites groups to share their maps, astrolabes, star charts, tidal maps, compasses, globes, visitor guides, treasure maps, city plans, or even architectural drawings.

At 33 inches by 25 inches and weighing more than 50 pounds, this lunar atlas is the largest book in the Archives and Special Collection at USD. The moon was photographed through the Observatory of Paris’ telescope in the late 1890s, and the photographs used to produce photogravure plates for the atlas. Library of Congress sponsors #ArchivesHashtagParty once a month, and March’s topic is #ArchivesYouAreHere. LOC invited groups to share their maps, astrolabes, star charts, tidal maps, compasses, globes, visitor guides, treasure maps, city plans, or even architectural drawings.

Map of the Ceded Part of Dakota Territory: Showing Also Portions of Minnesota, Iowa & Nebraska, Smith, B. M., et al, 1861. Archives and Special Collection has this map in the Chilson Collection with the call number 4130 S64 1861. The inset map in the upper left corner shows the entire Dakota Territory and its boundaries.

The image is from the Digital Library of South Dakota. Library of Congress sponsors #ArchivesHashtagParty once a month, and August’s topic is #ArchivesAthletes. LOC invites archives to submit tweets about athletes who broke records and barriers, famous sites for training and competition, patents for sport equipment, or historic moments that still give you goosebumps.

Peter Norbeck’s papers (SD governor 1917-1921 and US senator 1921-1936) has a folder titled Thirty Hour Week. Archie Gubbrud’s papers (SD governor 1960-1964) has a folder titled Forty Hour Week. Was there a discussion about working thirty hours per week before there was a discussion about the forty-hour work week? Both sets of papers are in the Archives and Special Collections. Happy Labor Day.

What do you think of this great graphic expression of the University of South Dakota’s academic programs in 1982? The poster also lists the year each program starts. It was created by Wayne Knutson and is in the College of Arts and Sciences collection.