Category Archives: Maps

Historical Maps

Old Antique Maps of Colonial Zone / Mapas Antiguos de la Zona Colonial

I have added some very old maps of the Dominican Republic when what is now Dominican Republic was named Hispaniola or was only known as Santo Domingo. It is interesting to see Colonial Zone when it was fresh and new (here is a historical document I found where the writer describes the city and island). The maps of the entire country are interesting to compare.

I hope you enjoy them as much as I did when I found them.

1.Original City of Santo Domingo | 2.Plan du siège de Santo Domingo | 3.Louis Drake Mountains Map | 4.Joseph Spear Map | 5.Sir Francis Drakes Early Voyages

Original City of Santo Domingo

Santo Domingo 1755 – Stadt St. Domingo. C. F. Fritzsch, sculp. Chedel, del. 1755

A drawing of the original city of Santo Domingo – Colonial Zone. It is interesting to note the way the buildings look at this time and to notice that many of them are still the same today.

The maps name is: Stadt St. Domingo. C. F. Fritzsch, sculp. Chedel, del. This map is thought to be created and published by Leipzig in 1755. It is a perspective map and not drawn to scale. This is a birds-eye-view of the original fort which is now the Colonial Zone.

The map is located in the Library of Congress Geography and Map Division Washington, D.C. 20540-4650 USA
The digital ID of this map is: g4954s ct000107 http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.gmd/g4954s.ct000107

Plan du siège de Santo Doming[o] par Dess[a]lines, chef des révoltes de St. Domingue, forme le 15 ventôse et levé le 8 germinal an 13.

Plan du siège de Santo Doming[o] 1805

This map was created/published in 1805. It is a relief map showing the shadows and depth perspective. It is a pen and watercolor drawing. I cropped this section out of the map to show the Colonial City. It is interesting to see the buildings and the outskirts of the city. There seems to be nothing out there.

The full version that can be found in the Library of Congress
This map is stored in the Library of Congress Geography and Map Division Washington, D.C. 20540-4650 USA
Digital ID: g4954s ct000102 http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.gmd/g4954s.ct000102

Louis Drake Mountains Map

Louis Drake Mountains Map 1752

Map Title: North America, performed under the patronage of Louis Duke of Orleans, First Prince of the Blood; by the Sieur d’Anville, greatly improved by Mr. Bolton. Engraved by R. W. Seale. For Mr. Postlethwayte’s Dictionary of trade and commerce. Gravelot, delin; Walker, sculp. Created/Published: [London] Printed for John and Paul Knapton, 1752.

It is interesting to see in this map the shape of the island and the names of the towns. if you look at the other maps of the islands each has the island shaped a little differently.

Hand colored. Relief is shown pictorially. Shows provinces, cities and towns, forts, Indian villages and tribal territory. Also shows shoals, banks, and other navigational hazards off the coast of Nova Scotia and in the Caribbean area.
Repository: Library of Congress Geography and Map Division Washington, D.C. 20540-4650 USA
Map call number: G3300 1752 .B62 Vault
The Maps Digital ID: g3300 ar001300 http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.gmd/g3300.ar001300

Joseph Spear Map

Joseph Spear map 1744

To His Royal Highness. George Augustus Frederick. Prince of Wales &c. &c. &c. This chart of the West Indies, is humbly inscribed by His Royal Highness faithful & obedient servant Joseph Smith Speer. Thos. Bowen, sculpt. Speer, Joseph Smith. Created/Published: Westminster, 1774.

It is interesting to see the names of the towns at that time. Also, Dominican Republic seems to have been known as Santo Domingo.

Relief shown pictorially. Depths are shown by soundings. Shows southern United States, Mexico, Central America, West Indies, Bermudas, and northern South America. Includes acknowledgment dated Jan. 25, 1774 at Plantation Office, Whitehall by John Pownall, secry.
Repository: Library of Congress Geography and Map Division Washington, D.C. 20540-4650 USA
Map call number: G4390 1774 .S62 Vault Oversize
Maps digital ID: g4390 ar169900 http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.gmd/g4390.ar169900

Sir Francis Drakes Early Voyages

Privateer Drake visited many parts of the island of Hispaniola and also other parts of the West Indies (as the area was called at that time).

Sir Francis Drake PDF Map (opens in a new window). Click on the maps to enlarge.

More information on Sir Francis Drake

Colonial Zone Google Map

Colonial Zone Map

A Google map of the Colonial Zone sights, museums, monuments, parks, plazas and other points of interest.

Our map of Colonial Zone in Santo Domingo / Mapa de la Zona Colonial de Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic / República Dominicana. It is a work in progress map of all the monuments and sights in the oldest city in all the Americas.

Make sure to view the map as large as possible so all the icons are not jumbled since there are so many sights in such a small area. Click the icon and a little pop up box will appear. This window will tell you what is in that spot and have a link to the page in the Colonial Zone web site for more detailed information.

Maps

We have some great maps of Dominican Republic, Santo Domingo and the Colonial Zone. I hope they help you with finding what you are looking for.

We are working on a Google map of all the sights, monuments, parks and other important stuff. I will continue to add items and also make them linked to their respective pages in the web site for more detailed information.

I have added the old black and white map of Colonial Zone with all the monuments and places marked for reference.