GIS overlays for route building?

[pkz19]

I know it's possible to use Google Maps overlays to build a route, but can you use shape files from a GIS database? These would be files with extensions like .cpg, .dbf, .prj, .sbn, .sbx, .shp, and .shx. I'm interested in building a historic route in my area that ran from docks on a river to a large manufacturing facility. It's all long since demolished so none of it will show up on Google Maps except the tracks and the open sites, but using the GIS I can see historical aerials that show where everything was.