LOST in SPACE, OR CONFESSIONS of AN ACCIDENTAL GEOGRAPHER

International Journal of Humanities and Arts Computing

Volumn 5, Issue 1, 2011, Pages 1-22

  Gordon, Colin ^a  

^a NONE

Author keywords

Cartography; Historical GIS; Historical mapping; Historical method; Historiography; Modifiable area unit problem (MAUP); Sanborn maps; St. Louis; U.S. Census; Urban history

Indexed keywords

EID: 84857300993     PISSN: 17538548     EISSN: 17551706     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.3366/ijhac.2011.0018     Document Type: Article

References (45)

1. See especially I. N. Gregory, A place in history: aguide to using GIS in historical research (Oakville, CT, 2003); I.N. Gregory and P. S. Ell, Historical GIS: technologies, methodologies, and scholarship (New York, 2007); J. Krieger and D. Wood, Making maps: a visual guide to map design for GIS (New York, 2005), 10. The classic pre-GIS guide is M. Monmonier, Mapping it out: expository cartography for the humanities and social sciences (Chicago,1993).
2. D. A. King, ‘Two Iranian world maps for finding the direction and distance to Mecca,’ Imago Mundi, Vol. 49. (1997), 62–82; E. Edsom, Mapping time and space: how medieval mapmakers viewed their world (London, 1997), 4–5; S. Winchester, The map that changed the world: William Smith and the birth of modern geology (New York, 2001), xvi.
3. See E. Tufte, Envisioning information (Cheshire, CT, 1990), 112–113; P.D.A Harvey, The history of topographical maps (London, 1980), passim; C. C. Colby, ‘Changing currents of geographic thought in America’, Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 26:1. (Mar., 1936), 1–37; S. Schwartz, The mismapping of America (Rochester, 2003), 77–126; J. B. Harley, The new nature of maps: essays in the history of cartography (Baltimore, 2001), 57–58; M. Monmonier, Coastlines: how mapmakers frame the world and chart environmental change (Chicago, 2008), ch. 3. The Milne passage is from Winnie-the-Pooh (Toronto, 1926), 36.
4. M. Monmonier, [No] dig, [no] fly, [no] go: how maps restrict and control (Chicago, 2010); E. A. Reeves, ‘The mapping of the earth, past, present, and future’, The Geographical Journal, 48:4 (Oct., 1916), 343; N. Thrower, Maps and man: an examination of cartography in relation to culture and civilization (New Jersey, 1972), 102. Orwell in Tribune (February 1944), reprinted in G. Orwell, S. Orwell, and I. Angus, George Orwell: the collected essays, journalism &letters, III, As I please (Boston, 2000), 92; the Boorman episode is from his semi-autographical Hope and glory (Columbia Pictures, 1987).
5. S. de Geer, ‘A map of the distribution of population in Sweden: method of preparation and general results’, Geographical Review, 12:1 (Jan., 1922), 72; A. G. Bogue, ‘Thequest for numeracy: data and methods in American political history’, Journal of Interdisciplinary History, 21:1 (Summer, 1990), 91.
6. A. H. Robinson, J. L. Morrison, P. C. Muehrcke, ‘Cartography 1950–2000’, Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, New Series, 2:1, Contemporary Cartography. (1977), 17; J. J. Knoerl, ‘Mapping history using geographic information systems’, The Public Historian, 13:3, Preservation Technology (Summer, 1991), 100. For the examples, see Google Earth at http://earth.google.com; U.S. National Atlas at http://nationalatlas.gov/; and Crime Reports at http://www.crimereports.com/.
7. This discussion focuses on vector-based GIS, which relies on predefined map features (roads, census tracts, counties, rivers). Data can also be mapped as a raster, in which the surface of the map is defined – like a giant spreadsheet – as rows and columns of pixels. Each raster pixel stores one unit of data (a land elevation, a mean temperature, a house value), although, given the limits of the data, many of these pixels cells will be empty. Raster-based mapping is especially useful in physical and environmental geography, in which relevant data are spread evenly across the map. But it can also be useful where the data are fragmentary. Plotting incidences of violent crime or disease or groundwater contamination can be used to map ‘hot spots’ of public risk. See Gregory and Ell, Historical GIS, 27–30.
8. A. Hillier, ‘Invitation to mapping: how GIS can facilitate new discoveries in urban and planning history’, Journal of Planning History 9:2 (2010), 124–6; Edward Tufte, Beautiful Evidence (Cheshire CT, 2006), 126–139; Gregory, A Place in History, 3–4; Tufte, Envisioning Information, 38; Gregory and Ell, Historical GIS, 10.
9. Hillier, ‘Invitation to mapping,’ 122–3.
10. TIGER (Topologically Integrated Geographic Encoding and Referencing) files are available from the U.S. Census Bureau (http://www.census.gov/geo/www/tiger/tgrshp2008/tgrshp2008.html) and via ESRI at http://arcdata.esri.com/data/tiger2000/tiger_download.cfm. An indispensable resource for the use of these files (and the data contained by them) is A. Peters and H. McDonald, Unlocking the census with GIS (Redlands, CA, 2004).
11. There are some commercial products (see, for example, http://www.geolytics.com/) that offer digital files of the 1980 and 1970 census, but the quality is generally poor.
12. NHGIS at http://www.nhgis.org/
13. Digital Sanborn Maps, 1867–1970, at http://sanborn.umi.com/
14. This paragraph draws on Census Bureau, Measuring America: the decennial censuses from 1790 to 2000 (Washington, 2002) 14, 27, 36, 77; M. Nobles, Shades of citizenship: race and the census in modern politics (Stanford, 2000); C. E. Rodriguez, Changing race: Latinos, the census, and the history of ethnicity in the United States (New York, 2000); C. Hirschman, R. Alba, R. Farley, ‘The meaning and measurement of race in the U.S. census: glimpses into the future’, Demography, 37:3 (Aug., 2000), 381–2.
15. H. R. Mill, ‘On Research in Geographical Science’, The Geographical Journal, 18:4 (Oct., 1901), 417–8.
16. A. J. Hunt, ‘Problems of population mapping: an introduction’, Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, 43, Special Number on Population Maps of the British Isles, 1961 (Apr., 1968), 7; I. M. L. Robertson, ‘The census and research: ideals and realities’, Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, 48. (Dec., 1969), 173–4; Gregory and Ell, Historical GIS, 7–9.
17. For a smart summery of census geography, see Peters and McDonald, Unlocking the census, 21–31.
18. The number and boundaries of US counties changes fairly dramatically through the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, but this change slows after 1920. In 1930 there are 3,102 counties; in 2000 there are 3,109. By my count, there are only 9 states in which county boundaries are not stable across this period, and most of that unevenness occurs in a few states (notably Virginia) with quirky rules for establishing county status and boundaries. The Atlas of Historical County Boundaries, a project of the William M. Scholl Center for American History and Culture at the Newberry Library (http://www.newberry.org/ahcbp/) has digital county files available for download.
19. Gregory and Ell, Historical GIS, 122–124; J. A. Neprash, ‘Some problems in the correlation of spatially distributed variables’, Journal of the American Statistical Association, 29:185, Supplement: Proceedings of the American Statistical Journal (Mar., 1934), 167–16; D. H. Davies, ‘Population density and development potential in rural Zimbabwe: an assessment based on the 1969 and 1982 censuses’, Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, New Series, 16:3 (1991), 334.
20. J. Mennis, ‘Generating surface models of population using dasymetricmapping’, The Professional Geographer 55:1 (Feb. 2003), 31–42; P. Cox; C. B. Fawcett; A. V. Williamson; A. C. O’Dell; Arthur Geddes, ‘The population of Bengal, its distribution and changes: a contribution to geographical method: discussion’, The Geographical Journal, 89:4 (Apr., 1937), 364.
21. C. E. Gehlke and K.Biehl, ‘Certain Effects of Grouping Upon the Size of the Correlation Coefficient in Census Tract Material’, Journal of the American Statistical Association, 29:185, Supplement: Proceedings of the American Statistical Journal. (Mar., 1934), 169–170; Cox, et al, ‘The population of Bengal’, 362.
22. This example is drawn from Gregory, A place in history, 50–51.
23. See S. F. Reardon and D. O’Sullivan, ‘Measures of spatial segregation’, Sociological Methodology, 34 (2004), 123.
24. See M. Monmonier, Bushmanders&bullwinkles: how politicians manipulate electronic maps and census data to win elections (Chicago, 2001); J. Toobin, ‘The great election grab: when does gerrymandering become a threat to democracy’? The New Yorker (December 8, 2003), online at http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2003/12/08/031208fa_fact
25. D. Bodenhamer, ‘History and GIS: Implications for the Discipline’, in A. K. Knowles, ed., Placing history: how maps, spatial data, and GIS are changing historical scholarship (New York, 2008), 225–27; N. Thrower, Maps and man: an examination of cartography in relation to culture and civilization (New Jersey, 1972), 94–96.
26. On these methods, as used in early maps of population density, see Davies, ‘Population density and development potential in rural Zimbabwe’, 334; G. Smith, ‘A population map of Ohio for 1920’, Geographical Review 18:3 (July 1928), 422–3, 424; G. Smith, ‘The populating of Wisconsin’, Geographical Review, 18:3 (July, 1928), 402–42; P. Cox, H. St. J. L. Winterbotham, H. J. Fleure, E. G. R. Taylor, B. C. Wallis, A. C. O’Dell, M. Hinks, M. Aurousseau, C. B. Fawcett, G. Smith, A. Tammekann, ‘Population maps: discussion’, The Geographical Journal, 85:2 (Feb., 1935), 146–159.
27. W. R. Tobler, ‘Geographic area and map projections’, Geographical Review, 53:1 (Jan., 1963), 59–78; S. de Geer, ‘A map of the distribution of population in Sweden: method of preparation and general results’, Geographical Review, 12:1 (Jan., 1922), 72–83. As one geographer struggling with this method in the 1930s observed: ‘if one dot represents too big a figure it is useless . . . even if the greatest care is taken in the selection of the centre of gravity; while, if the dots have too low a value they run together in urban areas and the resulting ‘black out’ is both unsightly and useless.’ Cox, et al, ‘Population maps: discussion,’ 151.
28. To offer one example: three 1940 census tracts (73, 74, and 75 in St. Louis County) encompassed all or part of 35 census tracts in Census 2000.
29. On the 1990–2000 relationship files, see Peters and MacDonald, Unlocking the census, 116; and the Census Bureau’s own summary of the process at http://www.census.gov/geo/www/relate/rel_tract.html.
30. See Gregory and Ells, Historical GIS, 138–143; and I. N. Gregory, ‘The accuracy of areal interpolation techniques: standardising 19th and 20th century census data to allow long-term comparisons’, Computers, Environment and Urban Systems 26:4 (2002).
31. J. Mennis, ‘Using Geographic Information Systems to Create and Analyze Statistical Surfaces of Population and Risk for Environmental Justice Analysis’, Social Science Quarterly 83:1 (2002), 281–297
32. J. K. Wright, ‘A method of mapping densities of population: with Cape Cod as an example’, Geographical Review, 26:1 (Jan., 1936), 103–110; J. Mennis, ‘Generating surface models of population using dasymetricmapping’, The Professional Geographer 55:1 (Feb. 2003), 31–42.
33. C. Claeson, ‘Co-ordinate system map of population distribution in Sweden 1960’, GeografiskaAnnaler, 45:4 (1963), 283–4, 286; H. S. L. Winterbotham, ‘The national grid’, The Geographical Journal, 63:6 (June, 1924), 491–496; Cox, et al, ‘Population maps: discussion,’151, 156–7.
34. Statistics Bureau, Prime Ministers Office, Statistical maps on a grid square basis: the 1980 population census reports (Tokyo, 1985); W. Tobler, ‘A model of geographic movement’, Geographic Analysis, 13 (Jan. 1981), 1–19; E. Tufte, Envisioning information, 40–41.
35. See J. R. Mackay, ‘An analysis of isopleth and choropleth class intervals’, Economic Geography, 31:1 (Jan., 1955), 71–81; W. D. Jones, ‘Ratios and isopleth maps in regional investigation of agricultural land occupance’, Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 20:4 (Dec., 1930), 177–195; J. R. Mackay, ‘Some problems and techniques in isopleth mapping,’Economic Geography, 27:1 (Jan., 1951), 1, 3–5; C. F. Schmid and E. H. MacCannell, ‘Basic problems, techniques, and theory of isopleth mapping’, Journal of the American Statistical Association, 50:269 (Mar., 1955), 220–2, 235–8.
36. New Yorker, March 29, 1976, viewable online at http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/covers/1976.
37. E. Raisz, ‘The rectangular statistical cartogram’, Geographical Review, 24:2 (Apr., 1934), 292.
38. M. Gastner, C. Shalizi, and M. Newman, ‘Maps and cartograms of the 2004 US presidential election results’, online at http://www-personal.umich.edu/∼mejn/election/
39. N. Thrower, Maps and ma, 159
40. Social Explorer (http://www.socialexplorer.com/pub/home/home.aspx) maps basic census data from 1790 to 2000, the range of data and geographic detail more expansive as one approaches the present. Hypercities (http://www.hypercities.com/) layers geo-rectified historical maps on current satellite views of selected cities, currently including Tel Aviv, Ollantaytambo (Peru), Berlin, Los Angeles, and New York. Mapping Dubois (http://www.mappingdubois.org/) is built around DuBois’ finely-grained demographic snapshot of Philadelphia’s Seventh Ward; its variables are thematic rather than chronological. Ethington’s ‘Ghost Metropolis’ (http://www-rcf.usc.edu/∼philipje/Ghostpercent20Metropolis/Ghost_Metropolis.html) incorporates a wide array of historical maps, and also embeds photographs and narrative discursions as forms of spatial data. Mapping Decline (www.mappingdecline.lib.uiowa.edu) presents a selection of interactive maps from the book. Many state and city map servers offer historic maps and images: The Iowa Geographic Map Server (http://ortho.gis.iastate.edu/), for example, offers geo-rectified aerial maps from the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s. The David Rumsey Map Collection (http://www.davidrumsey.com/GIS/) includes 11 geo-rectified historical maps of the San Francisco Bay area from 1851 to 1926, 18 of the Boston area from 1776 thru 1897, 35 maps of Washington D.C., and 32 maps of New York City (see also Rumsey and Williams 2002).
41. To quote one local review: ‘Gordon hammers home his points with color maps dotted with statistical data. (One problem: Most of the maps that cover St. Louis County break the county down by census tract rather than municipality. That, plus the absence from almost all of the maps of the area’s landmark interstate highways, makes it hard to pin down precisely what’s happening where.)’ H. Levins, ‘Review of mapping decline: St. Louis and the fate of the American city,’ St. Louis Post-Dispatch (05/11/2008).
42. See A. K. Knowles, ‘GIS and History’, in Knowles, ed., Placing History, 10–13.
43. A. Hillier and R. Churchill, ‘Teaching with GIS’, in Knowles, ed., Placing History, 75.
44. A. H. Robinson, J. L. Morrison, P. C. Muehrcke, ‘Cartography 1950–2000’, Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, New Series, 2:1, Contemporary Cartography (1977), 5–6.
45. The spatial distribution of the population is sketched by Shepherd, each character with its own home, rabbit’s friends and relations clustered on the southern bank of the stream, the bees concentrated at the ‘bee tree’ to the northeast. If we impose on this four equal counties and calculate, say, the rabbit share of each county’s population, the result would show no rabbits in the southern two counties, a density of up to one-third in the northwest, and a density of over one-third in the northeast (the county in which most of the rabbits, and most of the bees reside). Dividing each of those counties into four census tracts would yield a quite different result – offering a more precise location of the rabbit population, and allowing that no rabbits actually live in six of the eight northern tracts.