The Adopt-A-Map/Adopt-A-Document Program is credited to then Land Commissioner David Dewhurst, who started the program in 2000 with a small scanning program that grew into the full-fledged one that we know today.
With sponsorships and map and document adoptions from individuals and corporations many of the treasures of the GLO that had never been seen before were able to be conserved, digitized and their images uploaded to the agency’s Web page. The “adopter” received prints of the newly conserved map, a letter and certificate from the Land Commissioner and their name appeared in the comments on the detail page that described the map.
In 2004, the Save Texas History program, a project of the Texas General Land Office, was created under then Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson. The Save Texas History Program became the umbrella over map and document conservation, education and digitization. Save Texas History (STH), is a statewide initiative to rally public support and private funding for the preservation and promotion of historic maps and documents housed at the Texas General Land Office. Save Texas History is dedicated to preserving and promoting the historic documents and maps of the General Land Office Archives and serves as a resource for Texas history education and serving as a resource for digitizing Texas history for future generations.
Today, the program thrives under Land Commissioner George P. Bush. Maps and documents are still available for adoption with more than 45,000 maps and sketches in the GLO’s Map Vault and well over 36.5 million small format documents in the Archives Vault.
For more information on Save Texas History, or how you can help, call 512.463.5277 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
