Placenames Research Center

yellow map of Alabama

The Map Library is the former home of The University of Alabama Department of Geography Placenames Research Center. Toponymics, the study of geographic names related to a place or aregion, encompasses a wide range of research materials for a number of disciplines, including onomastic, linguistics, history and geography. There is currently no active toponymics research in the Geography department, but the Map Library holdings still include related materials such as:

  • Post Office Site Location Reports
  • Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps
  • Cemetery censuses, lists and guidebooks
  • Regional, state, county and local histories
  • Gazetteers and onomastic dictionaries
  • Road touring, cruising, river, trail and field guides
  • Historical city, school and church directories

For additional resources please visit the links below: