About Us
Vintage City Maps has the most extensive collection of restored bird's eye view and panoramic maps available. Our catalog includes over 5,000 digitally restored maps from all 50 states in the U.S. and from over 100 countries around the world, and we're constantly adding to our library. Our maps are shipped anywhere in North America and to most countries worldwide. Our maps come unframed, but are shipped to you ready for framing.
Our maps are reproductions of the originals. We use our own digital tools to painstakingly repair, remaster, and in many cases recolor these images, all done by professional artists and graphic designers in Austin, Texas. Many of our maps are brought to life as they appear in color for the very first time. Our maps are not available anywhere else, and we do not sell digital copies.
The original maps are amazing works of art and many are in color, but unfortunately over the last 150-200 years they have become torn, faded, creased, discolored, and stained. Many are virtually unrecognizable. Photographic copies of many of the maps in their current deteriorated state can be purchased from a variety of internet sites as “authentic” or “restored”, but Vintage City Maps is the only source for maps that have actually been restored and reproduced.
Our maps are printed in 600+ dpi high-resolution on archival-quality, thick, smooth matte photo paper with eye-popping clarity. (The images in our online catalog are low-resolution versions). These maps show people having conversations, horses and buggies in the streets, buildings, homes, and shops with remarkable architectural detail.
Our extensive research into public libraries, museums, and other collections worldwide has uncovered maps that few people even knew existed, and until now have not been seen by the general public.
We go to great lengths to save the integrity of the original maps and many have been literally brought back from the dead. We've developed our own special techniques and processes for color-correcting, re-formatting, repairing tears, folds, stains, and enhancing details, while still retaining a special antique look. Many of the maps had missing sections of the cities, due to tears and fading, which necessitated researching and then manually drawing in what was originally there.
Our aim is to restore these works of art back as closely as possible to their original look when the artists created them, and at an affordable price.
Sizes:
Most of our maps come in two or three sizes – small, regular (original) and large. Our regular-sized maps are typically 24″ high by 36″ or so wide, which is pretty close to the original map size. Our large maps are typically 36″ high by 54″ or so wide, depending on the format of the original map. We are in the process of adding a smaller size of most of our maps, typically 24″ wide.
If you're ordering a large map (36″ high) please be sure the large size map will work for you as it's quite big and will take up a lot of wall space. (See photo depicting regular and large size maps). Also, your map will need to be custom-framed as there are no standard sizes for the larger maps.
Most of our regular sized maps are purposely formatted to fit standard wall frames that can be found at your local retailers, like Michael's, Hobby Lobby, etc. Many of our customers go this route, and many have them custom framed. The maps have a 2″-3″ printed border so that expensive matting is unnecessary, and they're ready to frame.
Needing a special size?
We can custom print to just about any size – smaller to accommodate a special frame perhaps, or much larger to cover most of a wall. Just let us know what you need and we’ll let you know the size and price.
Note: Our maps are copyrighted and intended for personal use only. Reproduction of our maps in any way is strictly prohibited.