CaGIS evolved from the American Congress for Surveying and Mapping which was formed in 1941 and became an independent corporation in 2004. The following table provides a brief timeline of key events between these two dates. For a full history of CaGIS and its relationship to the International Cartographic Association, please see this 2017 report from the ICA News.
| BRIEF TIMELINE | |
| 1941 | The American Congress for Surveying and Mapping formed. |
| 1950 | Cartography Division formed as part of ACSM. |
| 1959 | ICA created, with ACSM as the official U.S. representative. |
| 1974 | The American Cartographer begins publication in April as a semiannual journal. |
| 1974 | First International Symposium on Computer-Assisted Cartography (soon to become AUTOCARTO) held in Reston, Virginia. |
| 1978 | n9th International Cartographic Conference held in College Park, MD, the first ICA meeting ever in the U.S. |
| 1979 | The Cartography Division gives its first “Award for Meritorious Service to the Discipline of Cartography” to Arthur Robinson. It is uncertain whether there was ever a second award. |
| Jan 1981 | ACSM is reorganized, with the American Cartographic Association (ACA) as an official member organization. |
| Jan 1986 | The American Cartographer begins quarterly publication. |
| Jan 1990 | The American Cartographer renamed Cartography and Geographic Information Systems. |
| April 1996 | We change our name to the Cartography and Geographic Information Society, along with a strategic plan that is more inclusive of GIS as a whole. |
| Jan 1999 | Journal renamed Cartography and Geographic Information Science. |
| Jan 2004 | ACSM reorganized as a federation, CaGIS becomes an independent corporation. |