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Maps | GIS | Aerial photographs | Statistics | Images | Planning Documents | City Resources Home

Note: Further information on Norfolk and the Elizabeth River can be found on the class page for ARCH 702 / LAR 802.

Digital Maps and Images

Digital Sanborn Maps of Norfolk

• The Scholars' Lab provides access to Sanborn Fire Insurance maps for Norfolk, provided through Proquest/UMI. These black and white maps are digitized versions of a microfilm collection of Sanborn maps collected at the Library of Congress. The Proquest/UMI collection is restricted to UVa faculty, staff and students.

Selected Scanned Topographic Maps for Norfolk

• These topographic maps of Norfolk were scanned for Architecture 702 (Spring 2006) and are available as JPGs.

Other Maps and Charts

• Nautical charts for Norfolk: The Naval Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) produces nautical charts of U.S. waterways. Digital scans (jpg format) of current nautical charts containing the Elizabeth River are linked below. The images are large, and some browsers may have difficulty opening them. To download the images, right-click on the link and choose "Save Target as..." (in Internet Explorer) or "Save Image as" (in Netscape or Mozilla).
  • Norfolk Harbor and Elizabeth River
  • Norfolk To Albemarle Sound via North Landing River or Great Dismal Swamp Canal
  • Cape Henry to Currituck Beach Light
  • Chesapeake Bay Cape Charles to Norfolk Harbor
• More map sources can be found on the national-level resources page.

GIS Data

Virginia Gazetteer

• If you are looking for GIS data for Virginia, we recommend starting with the Scholars' Lab's Virginia Gazetteer. This is a searchable database that will allow access to several of our most commonly used GIS data sets including Digital Elevation Models (DEMs), Digital Topographic Maps (DRGs), Land Cover Data (NLCD), Aerial Photos (DOQQs) and Satellite Imagery.

GIS data on CD-ROM (UVa access only)

• Current GIS data for Norfolk, Portsmouth and Chesapeake is available at the Etext/Geostat information desk (staffed 10-8 M-Th, 10-6 F, and 2-6 Sundays). These CDs must be used within the lab. Small portions of the data may be copied for use on other computers.

Other Sources of GIS Data

• The City of Norfolk offers an Interactive GIS Mapper, which includes data such as streets, districts, environmental features, and aerial photography from 1999 and 2002.
• More GIS sources can be found on the national-level resources page.

Scanned Aerial Photos

• A mosaic of aerial photographs of the Elizabeth River in downtown Norfolk is available here. This is a large zip file (71 MB) of a very large tif (420 MB).
• More aerial photography sources can be found on the national-level resources page.

Statistical Data

• Census factsheets from American Factfinder:
  • Quick census facts for Norfolk
  • More Norfolk data sets from the Census Bureau
• More statistical sources can be found on the national-level resources page.

Photographs and Views of the City

• More photograph sources can be found on the national-level resources page.

Planning and Architectural Documents

• The Norfolk Department of Planning and Community Development provides neighborhood plans, neighborhood profiles and histories, and the city's comprehensive plan in PDF format.
• The Norfolk Historical Society offers a variety of essays on the history of Norfolk, including a discussion of historic houses.