What is the geography or topography of the land? Is it hilly, flat, wooded? Are there many waterways or few? What is the soil type? What kinds of trees are native to the area? What kinds of birds and wildlife? What is the average weather like in the area? When does the first frost occur? How did the climate affect the way the homes were built? How did it affect the crops they grew? Were there major environmental events during your ancestor's life—the year with no summer, the blizzard of '88, hordes of grasshoppers, a prairie fire? How was the family affected? How did your ancestor get around? Was it by road or water, on horse or by foot? How far was the family from "civilization" such as courthouse, store, church, school?

Ancestry Country Fact Sheets
(From the 1997 CIA Fact Book—Includes current environmental information.)
Just select the country of choice from the pull-down menu.

Reading newspapers from the time period and area you are researching can also provide tons of information. For newspapers available, visit the U.S. Newspaper Program.

Maps and Atlases
Ancestry Map Collection

National Atlas of the United States

USGS Mapping, Geographic Names Information System

Color Landform Atlas of the United States
Shaded relief map and Black and white map (both show topographical features) County map, Satellite image, 1895 map, PostScript map, and links to other maps.

1895 Map

Perry Castaneda Library, (University of Texas/Austin) Map Collection

About.com—Geography

Cornell's Digital Earth

Weather
Major environmental events will be included in most local histories that can be found in libraries and historical societies. University or college libraries, particularly in agricultural colleges, should also have the information you seek. Online catalogs to many of these institutions can help shorten your search for these resources.

Online weather information:

Intellicast Almanac
Select a month. The resulting page will give an overview of U.S. weather. At the bottom of this page is a selection of U.S. geographic areas. Upon selecting a region, a more specific seasonal overview is provided, as well as a list of significant past weather occurrences in the region.

Storm Encyclopedia at the Weather Channel

Wildlife and Botanical
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Seek out local libraries and museums, particularly those that deal with natural history. The local botanical society can tell what kinds of flowers and plants are native to an area. In the March/April 1999 issue of "Ancestry" Magazine, in an article titled "Historical Archaeology Enlightens Family Research," Roseann Reinemuth Hogan, Ph.D., tells how upon visiting the house where her great-grandmother was supposed to have been born, she made an interesting discovery.

"Imagine my excitement to think that I was on a site where an excavation could actually yield a tool or dish that the family used! An even more touching surprise awaited me when I saw the lovely purple iris planted around the side of the yard. Now I understood a family tradition I thought had only begun with my mother. I had not noticed or though about these flowers before, but now they carry a special meaning. I know they are part of a much longer tradition of mothers passing these flowers to their daughters in each home they live in—we all have purple iris."

See the entire series:
Part 1: Turning Paper into People
Part 2: Historical Context
Part 3: Clothing and Food
Part 4: Migration
Part 5: Land
Part 6: Ethnicity
Part 7: Housing
Part 8: Community
Part 9: Environment
Part 10: Family