This morning I started doing some research for a special presentation that I will be giving to the Lee's Hill 55 Club in March. This lecture will be at a private affair held in the Community Center and I am planning on developing a special talk, customized specifically to the area in the immediate vicinity of the club. Think of it as a 'history in your own backyard' speech. There are several nearby VA Roadside Markers including:

(E38) LEE'S HEADQUARTERS: Robert E. Lee's headquarters of the Army of Northern Virginia in the winter of 1862 to 1863 were a mile down this road. (Route 1, 5.4 miles north of Thornburg) w/ more to come.

(E39) START OF SHERIDAN'S RAID: Here Major General Philip Sheridan, USA, moving from camp, came into the Telegraph Road on his raid to Richmond, May 9, 1864, while Generals Robert E. Lee, CSA, and Ulysses Simpson Grant, USA, were fighting at Spotsylvania. The 10,000 Union Cavalry force filled the road for several miles. Turning from the road ten miles south, Sheridan came into it again at Yellow Tavern near Richmond on May 11, 1864. (Route 1, 5.3 miles south of Falmouth).

(E8) STUART: At this point, James Ewell Brown (J.E.B) Stuart, CSA, had his headquarters and cavalry camp in December, 1862. (Route 1, 5.4 miles south of Falmouth).

I plan on using a PowerPoint w/ photographs of the markers to introduce each section of my talk, and I'd really like to have a decent map as well to show exactly what transpired where. I've spent some time on the Internet today using various mapping applications including VA Monument.com, Google and Yahoo Maps, Expedia, Map Quest, and the results are not at all what I was hoping for. I'd love to have a nice, simple 'overhead' image of the general area around the Lee's Hill subdivision in Spotsylvania County so that I can simply mark where the markers are located. Unfortunately I have had zero luck in creating one that is decent.

Many of you have had great success either creating maps or using them in various books and articles. Any suggestions on how/where to accomplish this task would be greatly appreciated. The good folks at the NPS are also going to assist me with obtaining some related photographs, and if I am able to combine, the stories, photos, and maps in a pleasing manner, I may be on to a whole new approach to doing talks around here in Fredericksburg. Thanks in advance for the advice. You can email me here.

UPDATE: Mr. Mark Jones turned me onto a great application called 'Flash Earth' for map making. The photo quality is fantastic. I'll be exploring this and think we may have a winner. Thanks Mark! (This thumbnail shows the Lee's Hill area near the Lee's Winter HQ marker.)