Berks County
NOW AVAILABLE: Early Landowners of Pennsylvania: Atlas of Township Warrantee Maps of Berks County
The newest volume of county atlases in the "Early Landowners of PA" series, this Berks County atlas contains all of the Township Warrantee Maps which are on file at the Pennsylvania Archives in Harrisburg, thus pinpointing the location of the earliest landowners. Each Township Warrantee Map was painstakingly platted by draftsmen from the original warrants, surveys, and patents. The maps show precise outlines in metes and bounds of each original tract and all surrounding tracts in the township, giving the names of the warrantee and patentee; dates of the warrant, survey, and patent; and the patent and survey books and page of the recorded patent. Please be aware, however, that the state only platted 23 townships, or just over half of the county, before the project came to a halt. Therefore, similar maps from several other sources, although with much less information regarding the tracts, have been added to this volume. The result is that original plats of the earliest landowners of over 75% of the county can be found in this book. Each chapter covers a township, beginning with a warrantee or landowner map (reduced to 8.5 X 11" size) upon which atlas coordinates have been superimposed. Each map is followed by a chart containing all data on each tract in alphabetical order by the warrantee’s name, as well as the coordinates where the tract will be found on the township map. The majority of the warrants were issued before the first U.S. census in 1790, but some of the land transactions occur as late as the 1920s.
No maps are included for the following townships: Colebrookdale, Douglass, Hereford, Ontelaunee, Perry, Pike, and Washington. Partial (sometimes very partial) coverage is given for the following townships: Albany, District, Earl, Greenwich, Longswamp, Maidencreek, Windsor, Rockland and Richmond.
The large images (several of which are over 5 feet wide) without coordinates are contained on a companion CD which can be purchased separately or in combination with the atlas. The CD contains only the map images, not the text of the book.
Here is a small section of the Whiteley Township Warrantee Map.
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The following is a map showing Berks Co. in 1776 which John Sassaman posted on the Berks County page at rootsweb in 4 portions. We have combined the 4 sections and are posting it with John's kind permission. Click on the small image below to see the details--it is a large map so it may take some time to load. it can be enlarged by clicking on the image, and it may be saved to your computer by right-clicking and selecting "Save Image As..."
We are also posting images from Map of Berks County from Actual Surveys published by H.S. Bridgens in 1860 which can be used in conjunction with the 1860 census to help pinpoint your ancestors. As always, once you click on an image and it is on your screen, it can be enlarged by clicking on the image, and it may be saved to your computer by right-clicking and selecting "Save Image As..."
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