Presented at the National Council on Public History Conference, Santa Fe, NM. April 2007.

1. Benefits of Using Sanborn
Maps for Exploring
Histories and Places
Beth Filar Williams
Colorado Library Consortium
bwilliams@clicweb.org

2. Outline
I. What are Sanborn Maps?
II. History of Sanborn Company
III. Reading Sanborn Maps
IV. Uses of the Sanborn Maps
V. Bibliography

3. I. What are Sanborn Maps?
•Fire Insurance Maps
•Large Scale
•Detailed (50 feet to 1 inch)
•Date Back to the 1860s
•Updated Regularly Until 1950s
•Approximately 12,000 U.S.
towns and cities mapped!

6. Partial of “Map of Congested District of
Salt Lake City Utah”
1911 The Sanborn Mapping Company
(Scale 200ft to 1in)

7. Online Digital Sanborn Maps
CU Boulder (NEW!)
http://libluna.lib.ad.colorado.edu/sanborn/index.asp
UC Berkeley Info and Maps
http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/EART/sanborn.html
Geostat Center and Department of History, University of Virginia.
http://fisher.lib.virginia.edu/collections/maps/sanborn/
University of Florida Libraries
http://www.uflib.ufl.edu/digital/collections/sanborn/query/index.html
University of Utah Libraries
http://www.lib.utah.edu/digital/collections/sanborn/
University of Georgia Libraries
http://dlg.galileo.usg.edu/sanborn/?Welcome
OhioLINK digital Media Center (need permission and authentication to enter)
http://dmc.ohiolink.edu/
David Rumsey Collection has a few Sanborns
http://davidrumsey.com/northamericanatlases.html
Iupui Libraries – sanborns of Indianapolis
http://indiamond6.ulib.iupui.edu/SanbornJP2/

8. II. History of the Sanborn Maps
London was prone to fires throughout its history
Detail of painting from 1666 of the Great Fire of London by an
unknown artist. Photo taken from Wikipedia

9. Fire Insurance
Maps emerged
in London in the
late 1700s
http://www.oldmap.co.uk/detailmaps/londafterfiredetail.jpg

10. Insurance Mapping in America
Growth of insurance based
mapping companies, late 1800s
Supplied information to insurance
underwriters
Rates based according to the relative
risk of fires

11. Daniel A. Sanborn founded
the Sanborn National
Insurance Diagram Bureau
in 1867
Portrait of Daniel A. Sanborn
http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/EART/snb-intr.html

12. Shortened the name “Sanborn Map
Company” in 1902
Eventually emerged as the leader in the field due to
absorption of other companies, high accurate,
detailed maps and standardized symbolization
(published in 1905)

13. Surveyors:
•Worked anonymously
•Names never appeared on maps
•Occasionally gained notoriety or
celebrity after leaving the Company
•Sanborn’s peak in 1920 – surveyor in
every state!

14. III. Reading Sanborn Maps
Sanborn maps contain a rich amount
of information and detail….
To understand & interpret the maps
you must use the complex legend!

15. Color Keys available:
http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/EA
RT/images/sandkey.jpg
OR
http://palmm.fcla.edu/sanborn/
mapkey.htm

16. http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/hp/buildings/sanborn_maps.asp
Most Sanborn maps were drawn at a scale of 50
feet to 1 inch until after WWII

17. Show size, shape, and
construction of
commercial buildings
(C or S), dwellings (D, Paonia Colorado circa 1908
From ghostdepot.com
F or R), and structures.

18. Not just location but the composition
of all buildings within a city or town.
Wood Frame
Building
Stone Building
Fireproof Building
Wood Frame w/
Iron Facade

19. Maps noted strength of fire
department and sometimes the
number of engines or firefighters at
each station!

20. Shows location of
water and gas
mains as well as
things like
sprinklers,
hydrants, and
alarms.

21. Maps show street names, railroad
lines, and Indian Reservations.
And labels on most public buildings
Reno, NV
1899

22. Index maps may include prevailing winds,
population estimates, fire department
details, and water facility information.

23. Disasters
Thematic Map of Chicago Stockyard
Produced by the Sanborn Company
(date unknown)
Chicago Stockyards
1947
It took less than one week following the
Chicago Stockyard fire of 1934 to produce
an updated map.

24. Corrections and Updates:
Each year
revised maps w/
correction slips –
paste-ons.

25. The Decline of the Fire Insurance Maps:
•The maps were costly
•1929 stock market crash and depression
•During WWII government placed restrictions on
map production and building construction
•Difficulty keeping pace with the post WWII
population and development boom
By the 1960s the insurance industry shifted
away from using maps to assess risk

26. IV. Uses of the Sanborn Maps
•Urban Morphology
•Historical Sociology
•Archeology
•Historic Preservation
•Genealogy
•Urban Historians
•Treasure Hunting
•And much more!

27. Urban Morphology
•How does physical form produce or
reproduce social forms?
Study the physical form of a city including:
• street patterns
• buildings sizes and shapes
• architecture
• population density
• patterns of land uses

28. Urban Morphology Example
Dr. Vaselka used Sanborn maps
to examine how the the design
and placement of courthouse
squares in Texas affected sense
of community.
Quickbird Satellite Image of
Denton, TX
“Courthouse on the Square”

29. Urban Morphology Example
The development of the Barrio Libre
Neighborhood, Tucson
http://southwest.library.arizona.ed
u/barr/body.1_div.2.html
1919
1948
1886
1901

30. Historical Sociology
•Study the past to find out how
societies work and change
http://www.economist.com
Example: Washington DC “alley life”

31. DC Alley Dwellings Example
Following the Civil War - housing
shortage - small dwellings built in alleys
between D.C city blocks – many were
brothels!
Most residents were poor and/or African
American.
Public perception of allies and inhabitants:
•filthy
•squalid
•crime ridden
•drunken
•rampant immorality and disease

32. DC Alley Dwellings Example
Investigations into these “red light
districts” were conducted in the
early 1900s.
Louse Alley was
considered one of the
worst offenders.
View of Louse Alley published in Weller's
1909 expose Neglected Neighbors.

33. Alley dwellings abolished during early 20th c. …. Louse
Alley renamed Armory Place (& became minor street)
….Armory Place demolished in 1930s (part of a
“beautification” campaign)…. Temporary housing was
erected here after WWII…. For a time part of the area
was used as dedicated open space.
Currently - American Indian
Museum stands the site of
Louse Alley but before it was
built intensive archeological
investigations were conducted
& incredible artifacts found!

34. Sanborn maps
guided the
excavation and are
one of the few
records of both
“alley life” and
“alley dwellers”

35. Archeology
Sanborn maps
frequently aid
archeologist – they are
the building foot prints!
From Footprint of a Sawmill:Archeological Investigation Into the Nurre …

36. Historic Preservation
Taos square in historic
Georgetown, CO awaits
restoration.
Wisconsin Historical Society –how to use Sanborns
to research old buildings:
http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/hp/buildings/sanborn_maps.asp

37. Historic Preservation
Sanborn Maps are an excellent
resource for historic preservation.
• historical evolution of buildings
• historic uses of buildings
• determine what building materials
should be used conservation and
From: rehabilitation
http://saahp.rwu.edu/saahp_gallery/cms-
files/historicpreservation/01.jpg

38. Genealogy
The study or investigation of
ancestry and family history.
• Generally do not contain family names - but
do you know the address of an ancestor?
• Only cover urban areas so best for research
of city dwelling ancestors

39. Urban Historians
•identify past land uses
• Study urbanization of cities
• Inferences about how housing sites were developed
• Explore how transportation routes developed over
time
• Scan whole city at once at one time
• Find unique structures of the time – and note
changes in time.
• Growth and movement of immigrant groups in cities
• Determine owner builders dwellings
• “Way in which North Americans made their way into
the suburbs”(from Robert Harris “Reading Sanborns…”)

40. Treasure Hunting
Bottle hunters use
metal detectors to find
treasure … also use Compliments of “Digger Odell Publications”
Sanborn maps to from http://bottlebooks.com
locate privy or
outhouse sites!

41. Use in Map Libraries
University of Colorado at Boulder Map
Library – example patrons request for Sanborn maps:
Researching a property for sale or selling as to historical value
and/or to restore.
Curious about old neighborhood and wants to know what looked
like “back in the day of his grandfather”
Looking for evidence of buildings designated as "historic” are
really historic and historically preserved
Many Architecture students use them for various projects
Environmental research (could an old service station have ever
occupied the property with the gas tanks possibly never
having been dug up?)

42. Other Ideas
•MIT Open CourseWare: a database of free MIT course materials. Search
for "sanborn" to access some fabulous resources.
•A lesson plan for 8th graders entitled A Road Map to Our Town, by Anna
Moyer developed during a class taught by Professor Susan Hardwick at
the University of Oregon.
•A Walk Down Main street: Exploring Your Local Community, a lesson
developed by Pat Gore at Greenwood Elementary in Independence, MO.
Hosted by the Missouri Geographic Alliance.
•Other ideas you have?

43. Bibliography and Weblinks:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanborn_Maps (general information)
http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/EART/snb-intr.html (Great detailed history of sanborns)
http://www.si.edu/oahp/nmaidig/ (DC alley life)
http://www.si.edu/oahp/madam/index.html (DC alley life)
Day, Grant, Jonathan Kerr& Jeffery Mauck. Footprint of a Sawmill: Archeological
Investigation Into the Nurre Sawmill in Williamsburg, KY. Available online at:
http://www.crai-ky.com/education/reports/sawmill.pdf
Gates, Tom. “Information About Digital Sanborn Maps.” Kent State University, Libraries &
Media Services. 2001. Available online at: http://dmc.ohiolink.edu/help/sanborngates.html
Harris, Robert. “Reading Sanborns for the Spoor of the Owner-Builder, 18902-1950s”
Exploring Everyday Landscapes: Perspectives in Vernacular Architecture, v. 7. 1997. p251-
267
Weller, Charles F. Neglected Neighbors: Stories of Life in the Alleys, Tenements, and
Shanties of the National Capital. Philadelphia: J.C. Winston, 1909.

44. Purchasing Information
For Historic and Current Sanborn Maps:
• Environmental Data Resources, Inc. (EDR)
440 Wheelers Farms Road
Milford, CT 06461
1-800-352-0050
http://www.edrnet.com/reports/historical.html
For Currently Updated Sanborn Maps Only:
• Sanborn Map Company
1-800-930-3298
http://www.sanborn.com/
Find a library who owns them in your state:
http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/EART/sanbul_libs.html