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Published by the British Antarctic Survey in March 2025, Bedmap3 is the highest-resolution map ever made of the geologic underworld beneath Antarctica's ice sheets.
maps

This Is the Most Detailed Map of Antarctica Ever Made

Scientists compiled decades of data to reveal the continent hiding beneath millions of miles of ice.
Robin George Andrews April 2, 2025
‘The Travellers’ Tour Through the United States’ is the earliest known board game to depict a map of the U.S.
maps

America's First Board Game Was an Idealized 'Travellers' Tour' Through a Young Nation

The 1822 board game, the first to feature a map of the United States, was forgotten for nearly a century.
Matthew Wynn Sivils July 29, 2024
Markleysburg, Pennsylvania

Old Tri-State Monument

This original Mason-Dixon line cairn placed in the 1760s was put in the wrong location because of the gravitational pull of the Allegheny Mountains.
Naughty cartographers with too much time on their hands.
hidden

Swiss Maps Are Full of Hidden Secrets

Find the Easter eggs—or the naked lady.
Frank Jacobs February 23, 2024
A New and Correct Map of AMERICA (London, 1752).
islands

For Hundreds of Years, People Thought California Was an Island

Dozens of maps show cartography's most persistent mistake.
Frank Jacobs February 16, 2024
Suzhou, China

Map of Pingjiang

You can still find your way around Suzhou with this 800-year-old stone map.
Behold the first satellite-like image drawn from observation.
flight

Flying Circuses Led to the First Aerial Maps of Earth

There was vomiting, crashes, fire, and an abandoned cat.
Frank Jacobs January 12, 2024
All illustrations: John Mata for Atlas Obscura
maps

The Atlas Obscura Crossword: Pocket Atlas

AO Puzzles November 20, 2023
Kuna, Idaho

Idaho Initial Point

A volcanic core jutting above the plain between the Snake and Boise Rivers, a marker identifies the reference point for all U.S. Government Surveys in Idaho.
Verdi, Nevada

Von Schmidt Monument

An iron monument on the 120th meridian as surveyed, one of only four marking the boundary between Nevada and California north of Lake Tahoe.
Geneva, Switzerland

Repère Pierre du Niton

This stone in Lake Geneva was once the reference point used to determine altitude in Switzerland.
Cartographer Antonio Zatta included Lake de Fonte on this 1776 map. It never existed.
pirates

7 Maps That Can Change How You See the World 

Plus: Our definitive guide to the world’s extraordinary sights.
April White September 22, 2023
Beijing's Forbidden City, built in the 15th century, was constructed based on cosmological principles that endured in China for millennia.
globes

A Square, Flat Earth and Round Heaven Meant the World to Ancient China

For millennia, this cosmological principle guided everything from calendars to urban planning.
James Hannam September 21, 2023
This vintage map, published in 1864 by H.H. Lloyd of New York, reflects anti-secession sentiment by taking secession to an extreme conclusion.
maps

A Map of the 'Disunited States' Shows the Fears of Civil War–Era America

A nation divided into not two—but four—took the idea of secession to an extreme.
Frank Jacobs August 4, 2023
Jacksonville, Florida

Lewis Ansbacher Map Collection

This collection features more than 240 antiquarian maps from around the world, in addition to historical views and plates focusing on North Florida.
All illustrations: John Mata for Atlas Obscura
maps

Puzzle Monday: On the Map Crossword

AO Puzzles July 31, 2023
Ottawa, Ontario

World of Maps

A rare venue to buy specialty maps.
The so-called Edith Deviation follows a natural valley.
maps

Colorado Is Not a Rectangle—It Has 697 Sides

The Centennial State is technically a hexahectaenneacontakaiheptagon.
Frank Jacobs April 14, 2023