Archives & Collections
🗺️ MAPS & CHARTS
Primary sources for historical nautical charts, coastal surveys, and geographic records relevant to underwater archaeology research.
NOAA — Charts, Wrecks & Ocean Exploration
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration offers the AWOIS Wrecks & Obstructions database, the Historical Map & Chart Collection, NOAA Ocean Exploration resources, and the RNC Chart Locator — essential tools for locating and contextualizing underwater sites.
Gallica — Bibliothèque nationale de France
France's national digital library holds hundreds of historical maps of Florida, Louisiana, the Caribbean, and Atlantic coastlines, including the vital Portfolio 138 series of hydrographic charts. Visit: gallica.bnf.fr
Hispanic Digital Library (BDH) — Biblioteca Digital Hispánica
The digital library of the Biblioteca Nacional de España holds extraordinary Spanish colonial maps, portolan charts, and navigational atlases covering Florida, Cuba, the Gulf of Mexico, and Caribbean waters. Visit: bdh.bne.es
Norman B. Leventhal Map & Education Center
Hosted at the Boston Public Library, this center holds an exceptional digital collection of historical maps of the Gulf Coast, West Florida, Pensacola, and the Caribbean — including rare British and French colonial surveys. Visit: leventhalmap.org
William L. Clements Library — University of Michigan
A world-class repository of rare maps and manuscripts of British colonial America. Holds key surveys by George Gauld and Bernard Romans of West Florida, Pensacola, and the Gulf Coast. Visit: clements.umich.edu
📜 ARCHIVES & PRIMARY RECORDS
Institutional archives holding primary source documents, manuscripts, ship records, and government reports essential for underwater archaeology research.
PARES — Portal de Archivos Españoles
Spain's national archive portal provides digitized access to colonial-era Spanish documents covering the Americas, Florida, Cuba, and the Caribbean. Indispensable for researching Spanish fleets, shipwrecks, and colonial maritime activity. Visit: pares.mcu.es
The National Archives (UK)
The UK national archive holds Admiralty records, captains' logs, courts martial papers, ship plans, and the ADM series — critical for researching Royal Navy vessels lost in American and Caribbean waters. Visit: nationalarchives.gov.uk
HathiTrust Digital Library
A massive repository of digitized books and government documents, including the full run of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers annual reports (1879–1970) — a key source for historic harbor surveys, dredging records, and coastal engineering history. Visit: hathitrust.org
Internet Archive
Free access to millions of digitized texts including out-of-print nautical archaeology studies, historical accounts of Caribbean voyages, Lloyd's Steamboat Directory, early Florida histories, and rare colonial-era publications. Visit: archive.org
⚓ NAUTICAL ARCHAEOLOGY RESOURCES
Specialized institutions and databases dedicated to the study, documentation, and publication of underwater archaeological sites and shipwrecks.
Key Research Institutions
Institute of Nautical Archaeology (INA)
A leading organization in underwater archaeological research. The INA Quarterly archive provides published research and excavation reports on shipwrecks and submerged sites worldwide. Visit: nauticalarch.org
Texas A&M Nautical Archaeology Program
Home of the world's premier graduate program in nautical archaeology. The thesis and dissertation archive contains hundreds of peer-reviewed studies on shipwrecks, underwater sites, and maritime history. Visit: nautarch.tamu.edu
NPS Submerged Resources Center
The National Park Service's Submerged Resources Center conducts underwater archaeological surveys in national parks. Key resource for documentation of shipwrecks in Biscayne, Dry Tortugas, Gulf Islands, and other NPS-managed waters. Visit: nps.gov/submerged
Royal Museums Greenwich
The Caird Library and Archive at Royal Museums Greenwich holds one of the world's finest collections of maritime history, including ship plans, logbooks, portraits, and records of the Royal Navy. Searchable online collections available. Visit: rmg.co.uk
Lloyd's Register — Heritage & Education Centre
Lloyd's Register of Ships Online is an essential tool for tracking commercial and naval vessels from the 18th century onward. The archive also holds ship plans and Lloyd's List newspaper records critical for shipwreck identification. Visit: hec.lrfoundation.org.uk
British Newspaper Archive
Millions of digitized British newspaper pages from the 1700s onward. An invaluable resource for tracking ship arrivals, wrecks, salvage reports, Lloyd's List entries, and colonial maritime news from Jamaica, Bermuda, and the Caribbean. Visit: britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk
Additional Map Collections
JCB Map Collection — John Carter Brown Library
The John Carter Brown Library at Brown University holds one of the most significant collections of early maps, atlases, and printed works documenting the Americas from the Age of Exploration through the early 19th century. Invaluable for Spanish colonial maritime history and Caribbean geography. Visit: jcblibrary.org
Huntington Digital Library
The Huntington Library in San Marino, California holds an exceptional collection of rare maps, manuscripts, and printed works related to exploration, colonial history, and maritime trade routes in the Americas and Pacific. Particularly strong for 16th–18th century cartography. Visit: huntington.org/collections
Florida Memory & FMSF — Florida Maritime Records
Florida Memory (floridamemory.com) is the State Library and Archives of Florida's digital archive, offering shipwreck reports, coastal surveys, historical photos, and maritime records. The Florida Master Site File (FMSF) is the official inventory of Florida's archaeological and historic sites, including hundreds of submerged and underwater sites. Visit: floridamemory.com