Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps Still Accurate for Modern Uses?
Are Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps Still Accurate for Modern Uses?
If you are an American citizen, you must have seen or at least heard about Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps. But do you know why these maps were created? Are they still usable? How beneficial are they? Let’s dive in to uncover a new, interesting chapter of American history.
Sanborn maps are basically a comprehensive layout of towns and cities (in the 19th and 20th centuries) in the United States. The core purpose of Sanborn Fire Insurance maps was to help fire insurance companies in assessing their insurance liabilities in urban areas of the country. The credit for creating these maps goes to Sanborn Company.
Apart from that, Sanborn maps are also famous for helping people trace their roots and ancestors in the USA and some parts of Mexico and Canada. These maps basically tell us about the dimensions, such as shapes, sizes, etc., of different residential and commercial buildings factories, in the covered areas.
Sanborn maps also specify the name and width of the street, property boundaries, and how to separate buildings.
Why were Sanborn Maps Created for Fire Insurance?
The company basically prepared these maps for underwriters and fire insurance companies. Traditionally, underwriters would visit properties before setting the rates for fire insurance. However, as the cities and towns expanded, it became practically impossible for underwriters to assess every single property.
Sanborn maps help underwriters in assessing the structure, heating and lighting sources, and construction methods employed for concerned buildings.
Elements of Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps
Beyond any doubt, are gems for exploring history. But they are most more effective for fire insurance companies.
Maps include some of these elements;
- Buildings address
- Building height
- Width of the streets
- Sidewalks width
- Street names
- Number of stories a building has
- Building footprints
- Building usage
- Railroad corridors
- Construction material
As mentioned above, you can explore your family history with Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps. Here is how.
Steps to Find YOUR Family History by Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps- Summary
- Locate the exact location of your ancestors
- Find a map for that location
- Locate the map with your family’s neighborhood
- Search address
- Check out the neighborhood
- Make a year-to-year comparison of the maps
- Create a description of your family’s daily surroundings with these details
- Note down additional records.
What is Modern Use
Even though the company stopped publishing these maps in 1977, Sanborn maps are still accepted and considered as the most accurate building and construction records.
Even today, these maps facilitate historical research of urban growth. Genealogists are using these maps to locate residences and workplaces of predecessors.
Where Can We Find Online?
There are more than 25000 digital map sheets available on the Library of Congress. Apart from that, you can also get these maps from;
- Digital Sanborn maps through IDAL
- The Sanborn map company