Sure, a GPS is handy, but maps, atlases have history

Shields Township plat map from the Illustrated Atlas of Lake County, 1885 by H.R. Page and Company, Chicago, Illinois.

I took a limousine home from O'Hare International Airport last week and the driver input my destination into his Global Positioning System.

It struck me that paper roadmaps suddenly seemed very outdated. Who wants to fumble with a map when you can have a satellite guide you?

Whether you prefer a digital or a paper map, it's clear they are still a vital part of our lives.

Maps have been in existence since at least 16,500 B.C., as evidenced by a map of the night sky discovered on a wall in The Cave of Lascaux in France.

Bound books of maps were first available in the 1500s, and maps of land ownership were produced by English cartographers in the 1570s.

In the second half of the 19th century, American publishers developed the county atlas. The bound atlases were a collection of large-scale maps showing land ownership and illustrations of farms and businesses. Putting maps and illustrations together and selling it to the mass market was distinctly American.

County atlases were certainly a marketing tool to sell books, but they occurred at just the right time in American history when farms and small communities were beginning to prosper. The atlas became a symbol of local achievements, boasting the accomplishments of farmers. Midwestern farmers were especially fond of the gilt-lettered atlases, putting them on parlor tables and proudly turning to the page where their farms were featured.

The marketing of the atlases began with a salesman coming to the county and finding key citizens to pre-order the book for $10. Next, more salesmen arrived going door-to-door to explain to subscribers that for an additional $30 they could have their portrait in the atlas. For an even higher payment, a professional artist would draw a picture of the homestead.

Historic atlases are one of the most requested collections for research at the Lake County Discovery Museum's archives. County atlases are rare, due in part to their heavy use by owners and large size that made them difficult to store properly.

In recent years, the trend in the private market is to purchase atlases and immediately take them apart. Maps and illustrations are sold off page by page, destroying the integrity of what made them so unique in the first place. Archives are one of the few places where complete volumes of county atlases are preserved for the public to research and glimpse one of the high points in American cartography.

Diana Dretske, author of "Lake County, Illinois: An Illustrated History" is the collections coordinator for the Lake County Discovery Museum. The Lake County Discovery Museum, a department of the Lake County Forest Preserve District, is located on Route 176 west of Fairfield Road near Wauconda. The museum is open 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and 1 to 4:30 p.m. Sunday. Call (847) 968-3400 for information.