WardMaps - Antique Maps, Gifts, Artifacts — Local services in Cambridge

I am not good at buying gifts for people. The great thing about Ward Maps is that they have fun items that no one else has.

Even better, though, and no one else here has mentioned this, is that they can make customized products (which truly no one else has). On 2 occasions I ordered custom journals, with a section of a historic map (of significance to the individual) on the cover of the journal. In both cases, the person who received the gift was overjoyed with it. I've never gotten that kind of reaction from any other gift.

They take custom orders on the Web (and, indeed, they are better at publicizing this great service on their Web site than in the retail store), but I found it helpful to go into the store to get help from the staff with the customization.

I also got a gift for myself, a custom coffee mug, using a digital image that I supplied. Like the people who received the custom items as gifts, I, too, was overjoyed with the result.

The custom journals and coffee mugs are surprisingly inexpensive, too, and it only takes them about a week...

I had a great experience here! My boyfriend and I visited WardMaps with the intention of buying a fairly specific map. We wanted a large map of Newton, Massachusetts. One that included our street. Since our street is on the edge of the city limits this proved a bit difficult. The young lady working (unfortunately I forget her name!) was so helpful and informative. Since we couldn't find what we were looking for on display, she showed us their online database. She explained how the database works and what we should search for. They have a large monitor set up in the shop so we were able to do the online search together and with her guidance. She gave us time alone and checked back in on us which was appreciated. In the end we found exactly what we were looking for! We ordered the map to be framed by WardMaps (framing was reasonably priced!) and were told it would be ready within a couple of weeks. We now have the map and it's framed and hanging on our living room wall!...

WardMaps is a very small, unique and niche store which, as you might have guessed it by it's name sells maps. And various other street and MBTA memorabilia as well.

From mugs, magnets and t-shirts to small and larger maps, they'll have you covered and they can also custom-print specific maps from their online (and offline) databases as well which can make for some very unique and interesting presents.

The friendly and helpful staff will assist you as you geek out and can also answer any of your questions as well as give you quotes for miscellaneous jobs that they can provide. All in all, I've had good experiences there and love to walk and peruse their selection and geek out.

As far as the location and convenience, the store is located right on Massachusetts avenue, outside of Porter Square and almost in between Porter and Harvard. It's a pretty convenient location however finding parking in the area...