Project Objectives:

1. To create an inventory for the maps and land records of Galician cities, towns and villages.
2. To obtain copies of these maps and record books
3. To index the names and information contained in these landowner records and make them available as a searchable database for researchers.

• Inventory the Lviv Archive card catalog for your town
• Photograph and / or copy cadastral maps
• Photograph Landowner Record Books
• Photograph other documentation of interest to researchers, based on the inventory

The indexing of the landowner records will provide an easily searchable snapshot of where our ancestors once lived and the type of property they owned during the years the land surveys were taken.

Database of Inventoried Towns: To find out if your town has been inventoried and to view the results of completed inventories and/or record acquisition, you can search our master inventory for maps, landowner, and other types of town records. Click here:

Phase Three Project Details:

Phase Three will involve acquiring copies of maps and records for towns that were inventoried as part of Phase Two. We will also add a maximum of twenty new towns to be inventoried.

1. Continuing Towns: Map and/or records acquisition will be continued only for towns that were part of Phase Two, depending on the amount of funds left over in the individual town account. Interested researchers can continue to donate to these towns. Please contact Pamela Weisberger for specifics.
2. Adding New Towns: New towns will be added only for the inventory process in Phase Three. To qualify your town, a total of $250 must be donated by one – or several individuals – one of whom must be a current Gesher Galicia member. Gesher Galicia will then provide a $250 matching grant to fund this inventory. This amount will cover the inventory process, and, possibly, the acquisition of a map or set of records. The more monies that are in the account, the more likely that records can be obtained so additional donations are encouraged. Costs vary, primarily, due to the size of the town and the number of inhabitants. If you are not yet a member, you can join online. Click here.
3. How to add your town: If you are interested in having your town added to the inventory list, please first contact Pamela Weisberger with the town name and location coordinates.

   Many Galician towns have similar names, so the more specific you are, the easier it will be to determine whether this town can be added to our list. At this point we are focusing primarily on Galician towns that are now in Ukraine, although we have had some success finding maps and records for towns that are in Poland today, but that lie close to the Ukrainian border. If your town is accepted into the project, you will receive information on how to make your donation.

4. Donating to the Project General Fund: Donations to the Cadastral Map and Landowner Records Project General Fund, which help to defray a wide range of project costs, are also encouraged.

GG will coordinate all contributions to the town projects and we will gladly accept contributions in any amount to support a specific town project or the Project General Fund. We will inform Town Groups of contributions to their town.

Once indexing commences, contributors willing to participate in indexing or map reconstruction will receive a working copy. Eventually, the indexes will be available to all.

Payment Options:

Check – in US $ on a US Bank – Payable to Gesher Galicia, Inc.
Money Order – US $ – Payable to Gesher Galicia, Inc.
PayPal – Click link for specific instructions. Indicate the town or General Fund.

Send check or money order to:
Ms. Ann Harris, Treasurer
Gesher Galicia, Inc.
1522 S. Point View #2
Los Angeles, CA 90035-3912

Indicate on your check or money order: For [Town] GG Cadastral Map Project

Gesher Galicia, Inc. is an independent non-profit tax-exempt Organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code. Contributions are deductible for U.S. taxpayers.

More Project Information:

As Galician researchers accumulate records containing house and parcel numbers, their interest in cadastral maps has also grown. As described by Brian J. Lenius, author of Galician Gazetteer, "Three distinct property land surveys were conducted for all of Galicia during the Austrian period of the 18th and 19th centuries. These consisted of detailed records showing the size of land parcels, type of land, crops grown and more. The Austrian Stable Cadastral Survey of the 1830s to 1860s consisted of records and extremely detailed maps showing the smallest parcels of land, individual yards, houses, barns, roads, field plots, synagogues and even large trees. At least three versions of these maps were created at the time including a field sketch, a preliminary drafted version and the Cadastral Map in full color. At least one or more versions of these maps still exist for most villages."

The indexing of these landowner records is ongoing, and we expect the information to go online in the coming year. Maps will also be available soon, both on our website, as well as on individual Shtetlink pages.

What Genealogists Can Learn:

By matching the information in the land record books to the maps – along with comparing the maps to house numbers on vital records – you can see exactly where in town your ancestors once lived and draw conclusions about possible relatives, as many houses were handed down through generations and marriage.

Some GG members have begun “house number projects” to collect vital record documents from people who have acquired them through Jewish Records Indexing - Poland or the LDS Family History Library films. From documents that show a house number, it is possible to create a table that is house-number specific. One can then trace a single house's inhabitants over time. Often families “handed down” their house to other relatives, or one family married “into” a house. Ann Harris documented this type of project for Zborow in an article in the November 2006 issue of The Galitzianer. Click here to read the article and see the project results.

Project Details:

• Town Research Groups promote fundraising efforts to obtain their town's cadastral maps and landowner records in the Lviv Archive.
• Those interested raise a combined initial contribution of $250 per town in startup funds. The $250 will be matched by GG.
• Once the startup funds are raised, GG's researcher will make an inventory of the town's maps and landowner records in the Archive.
• The researcher will make copies as time and money permits.
• To continue a project and obtain maps and records, additional funds must be raised.
• As our researcher works on an hourly basis, work accomplished will match the amount of funds raised.