| DIGITAL OBJECT TELLS STORIES GIS MAPS AND ARCHAEOLOGY COLLECTION |
HISTORICAL GIS MAPS
The computer system is capable of capturing, storing, analyzing, and displaying geographically referenced information—attached to historical maps or battlefield locations, such as latitude and longitude, or street location. Geographically referenced information is also known as geospatial information. Types of geospatial information include features like historical trails and routes, topology, mountains, water features, structures, monuments, heritage sites, War of 1812 and the American Revolutionary battlegrounds, libraries or museums. Information associated with a specific location is referred to in GIS parlance as an attribute, such as the population of a villages, encampments, Forts, or amount of movement along the Potomac River, Chesapeake Bay or the Patuxent River. Other terms common to geospatial data and GIS analysis are described.
The I DIG History Mapping Collection is a powerful Interactive GIS creation and combines geospatial information in unique ways—by layers or themes—and extract something new. For instance, GIS historical mapping collection studies the War of 1812 battlefield, encampments, and the Burning of Washington. The U.S. Navy Historical maps and particularly records of the British recorded the geographical information that was fundamental to reconstructing the War of 1812 battle . The extract of information is useful for locating and identifying exactly where the actual battle took place on August 24, 1812 and whether the British attacked Commodore Joshua Barney and his militia in Bladensburg, Maryland. The attack of the British on their march to Burn Washington begin in Bladensburg and ended in defeat in the City of Washington in the Brookland Historical District in Ward 5 at what is known today as Fort Circle Park. BHS has reconstructed this powerful collection of historical maps by incorporating information from historical maps-- challenging GIS users such as teachers, student’s parents, and the community to understand the geographic principles of cartography, particularly scale and projection.
These GIS reconstructed historical maps capture the attitudes of those who made them and represent views of scholars, supporters of science, history, and preservationist and world-wide views of “their time”. With the support of our partners and the leadership of our Chief Information Officer working with middle and high school students who attend District of Columbia Public, Charter and Private schools, BHS creates interactive GIS historical maps which tell a degree of accuracy about the value of including eighteenth, nineteenth and early twentieth maps in GIS. These historical difficult to read maps have been converted into three-dimensional historical landscapes which gives the user, student and teachers the feeling of standing on the battlefield, encampments, walking historical routes and trails as use this first ever interactive GIS map collection which provides archaeological excavations locations and a powerful tool for students and scholars to analyze the causes of battles for our Nation’s independence.
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| Potomac River |
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| Commodore Joshua Barney |
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| Defense of Washington Fort Circle Park |
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