I dabbled in web-based mapping a couple years ago and found the tech stack to be really quite polished. Starting from a database of features from e.g. OpenStreetMap hosted in a Postgres-based PostGIS map server, and geographical boundaries via special shape files, you can write XML files representing the features you wish to see on each layer of the map (using SQL queries intended for PostGIS), and CSS-like style files representing how the features should look. You then set up a tile server (Apache or nginx or whatever) that generates tiles on demand and performs caching. Finally you use a JavaScript library to provide the "slippy map" that users can drag around.<p>All of these layers of the tech stack have FOSS implementations; indeed most of the most widely used ones are FOSS. And then there's QGIS (also FOSS) to do most of this in a similar fashion, but offline.<p>As merely a dabbler having a bit of fun, it's rather excellent I must say. It would be interesting to hear from anyone working in this field professionally as to how the FOSS tools measure up.
It’s crazy to see how much has remained the same, even if so many new things were added. Looks like pretty much all the buildings that existed in 1777 still exist today.<p>Even crazier to think that at the time the original map was made, pretty much all cities in the US didn’t even exist yet.
It's interesting to see how segmented Antwerpen was back in 1777, what the author describes as hedges.<p>These were usually the result of inheritance, when the land of one owner got split into pieces and each child then got one piece. They got smaller and smaller.<p>I didn't think that this was already so extreme in 1777, but comparing it to the other maps, only Antwerpen and Brugge seem to be affected.
Nice project, and nice map! I did not know the Ferraris map, it is gorgeous.<p>It would love to see a tile server of this map, preferably with a switch between the old and the new map.<p>There is a 'time travel app' for Belgium [1] that includes the Ferraris map, and even older maps.
It's a bit clunky, I like the Dutch topotijdreis (topo-time-travel) [2] a lot more, but it seems like the maps are not as old and not as good, I have to slide to 1898 to get a colored map of Amsterdam.<p>[1] <a href="https://www.geopunt.be/kaart?app=Reis_door_de_tijd_app" rel="nofollow">https://www.geopunt.be/kaart?app=Reis_door_de_tijd_app</a><p>[2] <a href="https://www.topotijdreis.nl/kaart/1898/@122079,487387,9.49" rel="nofollow">https://www.topotijdreis.nl/kaart/1898/@122079,487387,9.49</a>
I've always been fascinated by old cartography.
How did they even have such precision? Which tools did they have? And how did they store the information?
Just this morning I finished watching a tutorial on setting up qgis, installing plugins and building a multi-layer map of Mumbai. Very much recommended for anyone looking into GIS <a href="https://youtu.be/jgbTosOPU-U" rel="nofollow">https://youtu.be/jgbTosOPU-U</a>
Several of the original maps have some added topology on them, and I think a simplified hill shade could help pop the new ones in a similar manner. You can put it on with something like 90% transparency and get a bit of a pop to add more depth to it. I used to do this back when I still made paper maps, but it should work just as well in a totally digital format.<p>Edit: On the github readme the author addresses this some. General elevation data isn't in OSM, so it was deemed out of scope for this project.
Nice! The rendering is more polished than what I did a few years ago in another similar project: apply CycleGAN style transfer on Google Maps / OpenStreetMap tiles to redraw them interactively as old hand-drawn maps <a href="https://github.com/nathanvogel/deepmaps" rel="nofollow">https://github.com/nathanvogel/deepmaps</a>
Side note: I love this style of "artwork". I also enjoy old books with paintings, older maps and whatnot and can look at them for hours.<p>Maybe it's because I work in print media and know how fast and good modern tools are, so I can estimate (and value) how complicated it was to create all the graphics in former times.<p>So: Great project to bring back the old style for modern data.
Mappy.cz has a layout to visualize CZ with a 19th century map: <a href="https://en.mapy.cz/19stoleti?x=13.9488027&y=50.4665536&z=12" rel="nofollow">https://en.mapy.cz/19stoleti?x=13.9488027&y=50.4665536&z=12</a><p>It would be awesome to have a similar style available there. I wonder how much work it would entail.