The Summit Historical Society has launched a project to digitize the historic maps in its collection.

Summit Historical Society director Jordan Bennett said Wednesday, Feb. 5, that the nonprofit has about 1,000 historic maps and has received a grant to begin digitizing the collection, starting with 35 maps.

“We have a huge collection of maps, so we’re so excited,” Bennett said. “We want to preserve them in perpetuity.”

The first batch of maps to be digitized will include historic maps of each of the existing towns in Summit County as well as maps depicting “hot topics” in local history, such as planning of the Dillon Reservoir, historic railways and the dozens of ghost towns in the county, Bennett said. Some of the maps in the collection are close to 100 years old, she said.

Because of the age and historic value of the maps, the historical society tries to handle the maps as little as possible, Bennett said. Oils on human skin can damage old documents, so historians use gloves when handling the maps, and even light exposure can cause wear to historic texts, she said.

Digitizing the map collection will help protect these historic documents from wear and tear by allowing local historians, researchers and the general public the ability to access the maps online, Bennett said. The digitization project also means that the public will be able to purchase permission to reproduce the maps, either for research purposes or to print out and hang on a wall, she said.

The ability for people to purchase permission to reproduce the maps will create a new revenue stream for the Summit Historical Society, Bennett said. But perhaps more importantly, she said it will create more engagement with local history, since a historic map hanging in someone’s home could spark conversation or cause someone to reflect on Summit County’s past.

“That little piece that ties someone to this history makes a huge difference,” Bennett said. “So with these maps, like Breckenridge is obviously a historic town … but people can see these blueprints of the town and be like ‘Oh my gosh, I can still stand at this intersection on a map made 100 years ago.'” 

The first batch of 35 maps will be digitized with support from a grant from the Summit Foundation, Bennett said. The maps will be digitized in high resolution by a Denver-based company so that viewers can zoom in closely on the text and reproduce the documents at their original size or potentially larger, she said.

Bennett said the historical society is still working on updating its website to support the digital maps, so it has not yet determined when they will be available online. The first 10 maps were dropped off to be digitized this week, she said.

With 1,000 maps to digitize, the Summit Historical Society is planning to create a dedicated fund so that history enthusiasts can donate to the project, Bennett said. It costs about $100 to digitize each historic map, she said. Anyone who wishes to donate to the project can reach out to mail@SummitHistorical.org. 

“Ideally, I want all of our maps to be digitized and accessible, but that’s a very time-consuming and expensive process,” Bennett said. “This is just Phase 1, but we’re super excited about the potential.”