Lost in Space, or Confessions of an Accidental Geographer

This article reflects on the author's experience with historical GIS during the research of his 2008 manuscript Mapping Decline: St. Louis and the Fate of the American City. It assesses, in turn, the utility of maps and their role in historical research and writing; the investigatory and explanatory potential of historical GIS; and some of the limits and pitfalls of historical mapping.