CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Over 3,200 historic maps of North Carolina are now available online as part of the Digital North Carolina Maps Project, with a slated completion date of June 30.

The project, which is three years in the making, is the result of the collaborative efforts from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Library, the North Carolina State Archives, and the Outer Banks History Center in Manteo, N.C. The organizations worked together to identify and scan nearly every original map of the state published from 1584—1923. The collection also contains maps of every county in the state and maps published by the state through the new millennium.

Nick Graham, project manager and coordinator of the North Carolina Digital Heritage Center, says that the project is already gaining widespread popularity amongst people in various levels of academia.

“We've heard from K-12 teachers, students, university faculty and genealogists, all of whom are big fans of the project,” said Graham.

Two Featured maps from the site:

The first state-sponsored map of North Carolina, published in 1808

“A New Map of Carolina,” published in London around 1685. From the Outer Banks History Center

The website also contains an interactive option, which allows users to lay selected historic maps over current street maps and satellite images.

“The interactive maps have been a lot of fun,” said Graham. “We’ve even heard from people who have used these to find the location of their homes on 100-year-old maps.”

The YouTube video below is a preview of the feature in-action:

For more information, about the project, E-mail Nick Graham