The Jamesland Map allows you to interact with data from a wide variety of sources to explore the landscape, natural features, and history of our nation. To show this guide at any time, just use the button on the map.
Basic features
Use your mouse or fingers to pan and zoom the map as you would with other webmaps. Enter a street address or the name of a landmark in the Search bar at the top to zoom directly to that location. Use the Home button at top right to return to the map's full extent; use the "Find my location" button at bottom right to zoom directly to your current location (you may be prompted to enable location services in your browser).
The Layers button will display the list of available map layers which can be toggled on and off. More information on each layer is included below. For many layers, clicking or tapping on a particular marker will open a popup with more info on that feature.
Watershed Address
Your Watershed Address defines your location within Jamesland according to the streams through which water must flow to travel from your location to the Chesapeake Bay. To discover your address, simply zoom in to your location and click or tap on the map. This will also reveal information about the soil and geology at your location (see below).
Layers
Each of the following map layers can be toggled on and off. Note that some will only be visible at larger map scales (i.e., zoom in further to see full detail).
National & provincial boundaries: this layer is displayed by default and shows the national boundary of Jamesland (the boundary of the James River drainage basin, or watershed), as well as the boundaries of its three provinces. These are based on physiography: the Tidewater province extends from the mouth of the James to the Fall Line, the Piedmont province extends from the Fall Line to the foot of the Blue Ridge, and the Highland province extends westward from there.
Counties: boundaries of all counties and independent cities (in Virginia and West Virginia) that overlap with Jamesland.
Rivers & streams: all named waterways within the James basin. Source: the U.S. Geological Survey's National Hydrography Dataset.
Protected lands: properties protected by federal, state, and local agencies, nonprofit organizations, and other entities. Includes national parks and forests, state parks and wildlife management areas, tribal lands, military bases & installations, etc. Source: Virginia Conservation Lands Database, Virginia Department of Conservation & Recreation.
Soils: map units describing soils and other components that have unique properties, interpretations, and productivity. Use the radio buttons to choose between two different ways of displaying soils. Soil order is the highest-level classification in the USDA's soil taxonomy; the twelve orders recognized worldwide reflect major differences in how soils are formed. Drainage class reflects how quickly water is removed from a soil, and the frequency and duration of wet periods. Click or tap on a feature to reveal more details such as the typical horizons (layers) of a particular soil. Source: the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service's Soil Survey Geographic Database (SSURGO).
Geology: map units describing generalized lithology, i.e., large-scale surface geological formations with distinctive features. The source data has been adapted to color-code map units according to general categories of age and rock type. Click or tap on a feature to reveal more details such as the formation's name, rock types, and the time period during which it formed. Source: the U.S. Geological Survey's National Geologic Map Database.
Rare bird sightings: recent bird observations reported to eBird, a leading citizen-science database. By default this layer shows any sightings within the past 7 days that are considered rare, that is, unexpected for the location or date. Enter the common or scientific name of any bird species in the search box to display all sightings of that species within the past 30 days, whether or not they are considered rare. Click or tap on a marker to reveal more details, such as the date and location of the sighting and a link to the observer's full checklist from that date. Source: eBird.org.
Plant & animal sightings: recent observations of all organisms other than birds reported to iNaturalist, a leading citizen-science database. By default this layer shows the most recent observations for all species, provided they qualify as research-grade (i.e. wild organisms with a species-level ID agreed on by the iNat community). Enter the common or scientific name of any species in the search box to display the most recent sightings of that species. Click or tap on a marker to reveal more details, such as the date of the sighting and a link to the original iNat submission (typically including photos). Source: iNaturalist.org.
Big, old, & notable trees: this layer features individual trees that have been recognized as noteworthy for one of several reasons. Some are of exceptional size for their species and have been officially measured by the Virginia Big Tree Program; some of these have even been crowned as the national champions for their species. Others are of exceptional age, as measured via a core sample (ring count) or estimated via other methods. Others are associated with historical events or simply beloved by their surrounding communities. Click or tap on a marker to reveal more details, such as the tree's official measurements if available, and its current status (alive or dead) if known. Sources: Virginia Big Tree Program; The Remarkable Trees of Virginia and Washington, D.C. Project; International Tree-Ring Data Bank.
Historical markers: a variety of markers visible to the public along roadsides, on historic buildings, etc. Many of these were erected by the Virginia Department of Historic Resources and have inscriptions that can be read by clicking or tapping on a marker. Others link to annotated and illustrated entries in The Historical Marker Database, a volunteer-run website. Sources: Virginia Dept. of Historic Resources; The Historic Marker Database (hmdb.org).
Historic places: builings, structures, objects, sites, and districts listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Click or tap on each place marker to read a description. Sources: National Park Service's National Register of Historic Places; Virginia Dept. of Historic Resources' Virginia Landmarks Register.
Peaks: all named summits and unnamed county/city high points, color-coded by elevation. Peak name and elevation in feet are visible at larger scales. Source: Lists of John (listsofjohn.com).
Imagery: a mosaic of aerial photography collected in spring 2022, 2023 and 2025, mostly at a 1-foot resolution. Source: Virginia Base Mapping Program, Virginia Geographic Information Network.
Topographic maps: a mosaic of scanned paper USGS topographic maps at 1:250,000, 1;100,000, and 1:24,000 scales. Source: original maps by the U.S. Geological Survey, compiled and served by ESRI.
at bottom right to zoom directly to your current location (you may be prompted to enable location services in your browser).