A map exploring the last wild places in America.
The frontier was declared dead in 1890, when the eleventh US Census determined that there was no longer a clear line of settlement. Since then, Americans have explored and mapped every corner of the Continental US. Nearly every peak, valley, stream, and lake – no matter how remote – has a name. This map shows human-created geographic features that are named on a map. These are towns, villages, schools, and government buildings that appear on maps. As the map shows, most of the “blank spaces” in this country are out West and in Alaska – the only large “blank spaces” in the Eastern US are in interior Florida and the Adirondacks.
Reducing the size of the dots on this map draws your focus to the named places, rather than the blank spaces on the map. This reveals interesting patterns of development across the country, and almost an inverse of a satellite image of the US at night.
This map’s data comes from the US Board on Geographic Names (BGN), a division of the US Geological Survey (USGS). They are the folks that standardize geographic names. The data can be downloaded at the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) Database.
If you liked this map, you might be interested in these maps that explore regional toponymy in the US – how different areas name geographic features:
Roaring Brook Maps 