Summary | Guide | Documentation | Map | Data Search

On the far left side of the screen are 16 tool icons. Please see the Map Tools section below for a brief description of each icon.

The main window displays the map of the City of Bethlehem. The black areas here denote areas of Bethlehem where no Sanborn maps were made. The primary purpose of the Sanborn maps were for fire insurance needs, and as a result they were not made for areas that either had no buildings or buildings of minimal financial value. These maps have been processed in a high resolution and by zooming in (see Map Tools below) it is possible to read the original text on the maps.

The third part of the map screen is the Layers/Legend window. Use the Legend toggle (see Map Tools below) to switch between the Layers window and the Legend window. The Legend window merely shows the map key for the current visible layers. Use the check boxes in the Layers' window to select which layers are visible on the map. The radio-button on the Layers' window can be used to select one layer to be marked as active. Many of the tool icons require a layer to be selected as active prior to their use. After changes to the Layers' window have been selected the Refresh Map button at the bottom of the Layers' window must be selected to make the changes. Depending upon your web browser and its settings, it might be necessary to scroll down to the bottom of the Layers' window to see the button.

Map Tools:

Zoom In. Select this icon and place the icon, place cross-hair cursor on the map and right-click. The image will center itself on the location of the cursor and zoom in.

Zoom Out. Same as Zoom In (above) but, naturally, zooms out.

Zoom to Active. This command will zoom the map into the active layer.

Pan. A grab-and-pan feature, allows the user more control to slide the map in different directions and distances.

Pan North, South, East, or West. Moves the image a preset distance in the respective direction.

Measure. This command allows distances to be determined. Select the icon, and then place the cross-hair cursor on a starting point and right-click. More the cursor to an end point and right click again. A line segment will appear between the two points, and a distance indicator will appear at the top of the map. Note that several line segments can be added together to map routes along streets.

Set Units (change scale). This command allows the user to change the scale of the map to either miles, feet, meters, or kilometers.

Select Rectangle. Allows the user to create a rectangle and searches the contents of the rectangle for members of a visible active layer.

Select. Allows the user to create either a line or a polygon on the map and searches for members of a visible active layer that lay within a polygon's boundaries.

Identify. Select this icon and place the cross-hair cursor on a point a visible active layer and right click. This opens a data window below the map containing the database record of the point in question.

Erase. Deletes the last line or polygon drawn by the user.

Print.

LAYERS: 

VISIBLE LAYER. This checkbox allows the user to toggle a layer's visibility on and off. After changes to the "visible" checkboxes, the Refresh Map button at the bottom of the Layers window must be selected to allow the changes to take place.

ACTIVE LAYER. This radio button allows one layer to be selected as active. Many of the tools such as Zoom to Active or Identify require an area to be made active in order to work. For the Identify and Select commands, the active layer also determines which database records are returned data window.