US Long-Term Ecological Research Network
Historical Plat Maps of Dane County Digitized and Converted to GIS (1962-2005)

Abstract

We constructed a time-series spatial dataset of parcel boundaries for the period 1962-2005, in roughly 4-year intervals, by digitizing historical plat maps for Dane County and combining them with the 2005 GIS digital parcel dataset. The resulting datasets enable the consistent tracking of subdivision and development for all parcels over a given time frame. The process involved 1) dissolving and merging the 2005 digital Dane County parcel dataset based on contiguity and name, 2) further merging 2005 parcels based on the hard copy 2005 Plat book, and then 3) the reverse chronological merging of parcels to reconstruct previous years, at 4-year intervals, based on historical plat books. Additional land use information such as 1) whether a structure was actually constructed (using the companion digitized aerial photo dataset), 2) cover crop, and 3) permeable surface area, can be added to these datasets at a later date.
Dataset ID
291

Data Citation Suggestion

Anderson, K. 2022. Historical Plat Maps of Dane County Digitized and Converted to GIS (1962-2005) ver 3. Environmental Data Initiative. https://doi.org/10.6073/pasta/4a41c99b83bf474acf7325093357a050. Accessed 2023-06-01.

Date Range

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Data Download

Shapefile of Dane County parcels from 1962.
Shapefile of Dane County parcels from 1968.
Shapefile of Dane County parcels from 1973.
Shapefile of Dane County parcels from 1978.
Shapefile of Dane County parcels from 1981.
Shapefile of Dane County parcels from 1985.
Shapefile of Dane County parcels from 1989.
Shapefile of Dane County parcels from 1993.
Shapefile of Dane County parcels from 1997.
Shapefile of Dane County parcels from 2001.
Shapefile of Dane County parcels from 2005.