Map the Past

Map the Past is a genealogy tool. Applications are available for Windows and Linux PC operating systems. Click DOWNLOAD to download the free version. Extract the zip file to the desired location on your computer, and run the file 'mapthepast.bat' in Windows or 'mapthepast.sh' in Linux. Send me an Email to purchase the full version for $19.95, or request support, or report errors or omissions. The free version is limited in place/county/state data but is otherwise fully functional. Following is a detailed review of the features of Map the Past.

Map the Past Basics

The main interface of Map the Past allows for setting the year mapped, panning and zooming the map, displaying information, and configuring a migration sequence. The year can be directly edited, but note that any change triggers an update, so enter a multi-digit change one digit at a time. Panning of the map is accomplished by left-clicking where to re-center. Double-left-click zooms in, centered on where the double-click was executed. Right-click to zoom out, maintaining the map center. Note that the map is assembled from discrete tiles, which places some limits on framing. Clicking on the '<>' button returns to the default map frame, of the southern continental United States and Caribbean. Hover the mouse pointer over a place to display information about that place and its county and state. Other basic features of the main interface are showing/not showing places to focus on county and state boundaries, accessing more detailed help topics, and searching places/counties/states for a name if the name is known but the location isn't certain. There are two hotkey functions, where pressing CTRL-A highlights all text in the information window for copying with CTRL-C, and pressing CTRL-R generates a history report for the active place to help identify key events.

Map the Past Scope of Data

The free version of Map the Past includes data from places and counties that were founded by 1767. The full version includes data up to the year 2000. The data of Map the Past version 1.0 is focused on the continental United States, with representational places in Alaska, Hawaii, Mexico, Canada, the Caribbean, Europe, and Great Britain and Ireland. Indigenous peoples of the continental United States are represented in the place/county/state format with 'America' for the state and several tribal divisions using the county category. This is not comprehensive, being tied to known Native histories of places, but is representative of where populations had been most dense. The year 1492 is the starting point of data, though most places represented at that date have much deeper histories. For most counties only the county seat is included in the data. The user may add information to the data as desired for personal use. Click the Help/About button for a description of the data syntax used by Map the Past.

Generating a Migration Sequence and Video Recording

A secondary function of Map the Past is to generate a migration sequence and optionally record it as an MP4 video. The right side of the control panel applies to this function. To enter migration mode, click the Load button and import a migration data file. Click the Help/About button for specific instructions on the creation of migration data and other details regarding migration mode. Map the Past automatically populates the Start Year and End Year fields from the imported data, but these may be changed as desired. When in migration mode, most of the interactive buttons and fields are disabled. To return to interactive mode, click the Clear button. The Restart button moves to the start year and begins the migration sequence. The Resume button begins the migration sequence from the active year. The Pause button stops the migration sequence after the active year is fully animated. The Record button performs the same function as the Restart button, while saving the sequence to an MP4 file. Note that recording the MP4 is the intended purpose, as each animated frame is intended to be 1/24th of a second of video, and the time it takes Map the Past to generate the frames is much longer than that. The output MP4 will play at the desired frame rate. Map the Past is not a video player.