MapsPorter County maps . . . .
Porter County Township Plat Maps
Porter County township plat maps are available from 1833-1836, 1876, 1895, 1906, 1921, 1928, 1929, 1938, 1941, 1948, 1958, 1969, 1973, 1974, 1976, 1979, 1982, 1984, and 1988. Original land patent maps are also available to view by township. Township plat maps can be viewed by either year or township.
| GLO Survey (1833-1836) - Federal Copy |
| GLO Survey (1833-1836) - Indiana Copy |
| Plats by Year | Plats by Township |
| Original Land Patents | Boone |
| 1876 | Center |
| 1895 | Essex |
| 1906 | Jackson |
| 1921 | Liberty |
| 1928 | Morgan |
| 1929 | Pine |
| 1938 | Pleasant |
| 1941 | Portage |
| 1948 | Porter |
| 1958 | Union |
| 1969 (name index) | Washington |
| 1973 (name index) | Westchester |
| 1974 (name index) | |
| 1976 (name index) | |
| 1979 (name index) | |
| 1982 (name index) | |
| 1984 (name index) | |
| 1988 (name index) |
Porter County City and Village Plat Maps
Numerous plat maps of cities, villages, and additions are available on this website. Note that several plats were surveyed and recorded for villages that never came into existence; most of these plats were recorded very early in Porter County's history and were platted as speculative land investments that did not materialize. Other plats were published for small villages that existed but then later became depopulated, largely due to the fact that railroads became less important as a factor in creating and maintaining communities.
Porter County Land Patent Maps and Name Index
Land patents were issued by the General Land Office, conveying property held by the federal government to individuals; these individuals were referred to as patentees. The federal government's original survey of Porter County has been scanned and made available by the Porter County Surveyor's Office. The Porter County Land Patent Name Index provides more than 2,600 land patent records for all land contained within the boundaries of Porter County, Indiana, as well as a link to a copy of each original land patent document. You can also view each township's land patentees by viewing township plat maps that are based on General Land Office data.
Early Porter County Maps
Few maps of Porter County exist that were produced
prior to 1860. The following maps are the earliest known county-wide maps known
to exist.
Solon Robinson's Descriptive Maps of Unsold Lands was likely
produced in 1838. Robinson was the
first settler to make a claim on land
in the area that later became Crown
Point, Lake County, Indiana.
He was very active in promoting
agriculture and the development and
settlement of Northwest Indiana.
Robinson's map, based on original
survey maps prepared by the United
Surveyor Generals Office, is
particularly interesting in that the
extent and distribution of prairie lands
and wetlands prior to development of
the two counties have been
depicted on the map. Note that only
the far western portion of Porter
County is shown on Robinson's map.
The map was engraved by
Doolittle & Munson, engravers and
copper plate printers, who were
located at the corner of Main Street
and Fifth Street in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Solon Robinson was born October 21,
1803, in Tolland, Tolland County,
Connecticut, and died November 3,
1880, in Jacksonville, Duval County,
Florida. He is buried in Maplewood
Cemetery located in Crown Point.
E. P. Abbot's Sectional Map of Porter County, Indiana, was
produced in 1855. Ephraim Putnam
Abbot, a civil engineer and surveyor,
prepared his map by compiling
information from United States surveys.
The interesting feature of this map
is that it locates the mills, both saw
and grist, operating in the county at
this time. Also featured on the
map are such villages as City West,
New City West, Calumet (later
known as Chesterton), Bailey Town,
and Tassinong. The Abbot map
was engraved by Gibson & Company of
Cincinnati, Ohio. Abbot, who
served as a Captain of Company E,
Third Regiment Ohio Infantry,
during the Civil War, was born
September 21, 1833, in Muskingum
County, Ohio, and committed suicide
by shooting himself at his home
in Shawnee, Perry County, Ohio, on
September 19, 1878. He is
buried in Greenwood Cemetery in
Zanesville, Muskingum County, Ohio.
Valparaiso National Bank/First Trust Co. Porter County Map
The Valparaiso National Bank and First Trust Company produced map of Porter County. This map was produced prior to January 1932, since both financial institutions permanently ceased to exist at that time due to the state and national banking crisis associated with the Great Depression.
Indiana Historical Aerial Photo Index
The Indiana Historical Aerial Photo Index was created by the Indiana Geological Survey. Aerial photographs for Porter County are available for the years of 1939, 1954, 1958, 1965, and 1973. To use the index, choose the county and then choose the year of interest and click the "Zoom to Selection" link. This will result in a map of the county and points were aerial images were taken within the county.
Sanborn™ Fire Insurance Maps
The Sanborn Map Company of Pelham, New York, developed extremely detailed maps
of municipalities located throughout the United States for the purpose of
providing information for the underwriting of fire insurance. In particular, the
maps aided fire insurance
agents in ascertaining the hazard level associated with a specific property.
Maps provide details such as size, shape, and type of construction of dwellings, commercial
structures, and factories, as well as fire walls, locations of windows and doors,
sprinkler systems, and roof types. In addition, property boundaries, widths and names
of streets, current building usage, and house and block numbers are provided on the maps.
The
Indiana State Library, as well as several other libraries located in Indiana and
elsewhere, maintain a
microfilm set of Sanborn™ fire insurance maps for Indiana municipalities
dating from the 1880s to the middle of the 1950s. The microfilm can be obtained
through interlibrary loan services at most local libraries and found through
an OCLC WorldCat search (use the following keywords in WorldCat: Sanborn fire
insurance maps Indiana). Once obtained through interlibrary loan, a microfilm
printer or microfilm scanner can used to produce either hardcopy or digital copies of
the microfilmed maps. Below are the Sanborn™ fire insurance maps available for
Porter County municipalities:
Chesterton
1893
1899
1905
1912
1922
1935
1951
Hebron
1895
1909
1925
Porter [see Chesterton for dates after 1899]
1893
1899
Valparaiso
1886
1892
1899
1905
1910
1926
1954
Railroad Plat Maps of Porter County
The following files contain scanned images of the original railroad right-of-way plat maps within Porter County. Aside from their obvious historical significance, these maps are very useful in identifying parcel ownerships adjacent to the railroads. The original public documents are available for viewing at the Porter County Surveyor's Office. Note that most of these files are quite large and may take considerable time to download on slower Internet connections, such as dialup.
Baltimore & Ohio & Chicago Railroad (1918 plat)
Chesapeake & Ohio Railway (1916 plat)
Chesterton: East (1923 plat)
Chicago, Lake Shore & South Bend Railroad (undated plat, after 1910)
Elgin, Joliet & Eastern Railway: Crocker Station (1925 plat)
Elgin, Joliet & Eastern Railway: McCool Station (1924 plat)
Gary Railways: Garyton to Valparaiso (1939 plat)
Grand Trunk Western Railroad (1917 plat)
Michigan Central Railroad (1916 plat)
New York, Chicago & St. Louis Railroad (1916 plat)
New York
Central Railroad (1927 plat)
Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis Railroad (1916 plat)
Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne & Chicago Railway (1916 plat)
Wabash
Railroad (1919 plat)
Porter County Geographic Information System (GIS)
The Porter County GIS Office, a unit of the Porter County Auditor's Department, provides online access to Porter County GIS information to the general public.
US Geological Survey, Porter County Topographical Maps
Topographical maps (7.5 minute series) prepared by the US Geological Survey that cover the entire area of Porter County are available on this website.