MINNESOTA HERITAGE ATLAS — GEOGRAPHIC REFERENCE PACKAGE
Checked September 14, 2026. All coordinates use WGS84 longitude, latitude (EPSG:4326).

Open GeoJSON layers in QGIS, ArcGIS, or other compatible mapping software.
Add modern-major-roads-2026.geojson below the thematic layers. For local roads,
use the online Atlas OpenStreetMap base or MnDOT county/city maps:
https://www.dot.state.mn.us/maps/
The road layer is a generalized 2026 Census primary/secondary road reference;
it is not a complete local-road network or navigation service.

CONTENTS AND METHODS
focal-places.geojson: Isanti, Emily, McGregor; community-scale reference points.
headwaters.geojson: four source areas, with individual accuracy and coverage notes.
cathedrals-basilicas.geojson: nine unique buildings (eight cathedral/co-cathedral
buildings and two minor basilicas overlap at Minneapolis's Basilica of Saint Mary).
Church points are Census address-geocoder interpolations, not entrance surveys.
mn-rivers.geojson: selected Minnesota DNR water-trail geometry, based on 2009
imagery and simplified at 0.0005 degrees. This is modern river context, not a
historical channel reconstruction. Wisconsin's upper St. Croix reach is not
included; the Wisconsin headwater marker is plotted separately. St. Louis's
source marker indicates the Seven Beaver Lake area, not a surveyed outlet.
mn-trade.geojson: eight interpretive historical corridors. Six are schematic
connections among documented places; two use the modern DNR river proxy.
Straight segments are NOT exact historical paths, modern driving routes, or
claims that a modern highway follows a historical trade trail.
mn-dioceses.geojson: six present territorial Latin Catholic dioceses reconstructed
by combining generalized Census 2026 county polygons and researched county
assignments. All 87 counties are assigned once. These are not official canonical
boundary surveys, parish boundaries, Indigenous territories, or cultural identity
boundaries. Eastern Catholic jurisdictions crossing state lines are discussed
in the guide but are not included as boundary polygons.
modern-major-roads-2026.geojson: Census TIGERweb primary/secondary highways in
the regional bounding box, generalized at 0.003 degrees; neighboring-state roads
may appear. Geometry is contextual and does not assert current road conditions.
minnesota-editorial.json: all narratives, bishop biographies, photo-source and
rights references, map methods and linked sources. Photos are referenced but
not bundled in this GIS package. Their individual rights remain with the
respective holders; source attribution is not an open reuse license.
sources.json: source IDs resolve to URLs, support notes and checked dates.
geography-provenance.json: original county query and geometry provenance.

SOURCE RIGHTS
U.S. Census Bureau geography: public U.S. government data. Minnesota DNR river
geometry: follow the original dataset's public-use conditions; not for sale or
legal surveying. Dataset item: e33f8c1bd2854b25957a88c64197f500.
Original data and third-party images retain their own terms. No blanket license
is granted for linked sources or photographs. Preserve source IDs and method
notes in derivative maps.
