Digitized map collections abound online these days, and the Historical Maps Online collection from the University of Illinois Library is one of the better ones available for researchers and the inquisitive public. Part of a collaborative effort between the University of Illinois Library and the University of Illinois Press, the online material includes hundreds of digitized maps, which may be examined in minute detail with an effective zoom feature. Visitors may browse the maps by preset topics (such as Wisconsin, Indians of North America, Kansas), or browse through the special section containing topographic maps of Illinois. While the general intent of the project was to electronically present images of maps that chart the past 400 years of historical development in Illinois, there are also a few real unusual gems here. One such map is the little-known caricature map of Chicago from 1931 titled "A Map of Chicago's gangland from authentic sources: designed to inculcate the most important principles of piety and virtue in young persons, and graphically portray the evils and sin of large cities."
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