Goochland County launches historic map viewer tracing roads and growth

A homeowner trying to match an old deed to a present-day parcel, or a family historian tracing a church road that no longer exists, can now do both on the same Goochland County screen. The county’s Historic Map Viewer overlays modern mapping with historic layers from 1820, 1863, 1880, 1919 and 1932, giving residents a practical way to see how roads, boundaries and development have changed across the county.

Goochland County introduced the viewer during the April 1, 2025 Board of Supervisors meeting as a partnership between the Goochland County Geographic Information System Department and the Goochland County Historical Society. The county says the tool is available through its website and is meant for the public, not just archivists or planners.

The earliest layer comes from the 1820 John Wood map, which the historical society describes as the first map of Goochland County. That map shows taverns, ferries, mills and roads that are no longer in use, details that can help residents locate long-gone travel corridors and understand why certain neighborhoods developed where they did. The 1863 Jeremy Francis Gilmer map adds another level of detail, with landowners, churches, schools, gold mines and other sites that make it especially useful for genealogy, land-history work and Civil War-era research.

The 1932 layer carries its own significance. Goochland County says it reflects the period when county roads were taken over by the Virginia Department of Highways, making it a useful reference point for anyone trying to understand how the transportation network evolved before the modern system took shape. Viewed together, the maps show more than old scenery. They show how settlement patterns, public roads and county boundaries shifted over more than a century.

The viewer also fits into a county system that already uses GIS for property ownership, tax, zoning, land use, roads and natural features. County mapping and data requests have a three-day turnaround time, and the GIS office identifies Jonathan Worley as GIS Coordinator. For residents who need more than a quick lookup, the viewer turns county mapping into a deeper planning and history tool.

The timing matters in a growing county. The U.S. Census Bureau estimated Goochland’s population at 28,223 on July 1, 2024, up from 24,727 in the 2020 census. As more people move into the county, the historic map viewer offers a clear way to see how Goochland’s rural character, road network and land patterns were built over time. In January 2026, the historical society said the Library of Virginia recognized the viewer as the first of its kind in the Commonwealth, giving the local project statewide significance.