- Wikipedia will in great detail tell everything about the company history.
- Pre/Post 1900’s found cities contained so many buildings built of wood.
- Due to fire damage in that era, these maps are called Fire Insurance Maps.
- Legitimate surveyors did the field work and besides dimensions other information was noted. i.e. if a plant had a night watchman, type of construction etc.
- While I cannot attest to this, these maps were so detailed, they were depended on as if it was the work of a local surveyor.
- For sure they are a treasure trove of history. Street names can change over the years, but not it’s dimension. Types of commercial buildings long gone are recorded.
- As for RR’s. I have had access to an original book for my city. My interest in the two RR’s we had crossover here are of tremendous interest.
- Since a city can take several pages of maps to be covered in total, I copied each page that had RR information.
- Shock. With all the bragging about accuracy, some “loose ends” (spurs, yard tracks) of trackage did NOT match exactly other pages that should have matched. Note: “loose ends”. I would think only streets and buildings were measured. Loose end tracks had no “Fire Value” thus they could have been “freehanded. endmrw0201251456
These Sanborn Fire Maps provide great historical pretext. While many were easily downloaded as “free internet files”, as of late “many have fees for download”.
I don’t know where the “fee” access is, but some state governments have free access due to citizens tax moneys. I know in the past MY state did not, But Missouri DID. Not only the Sanborn maps of cities, but commerce data. A small fledging RR that wanted to go to Memphis (never made it) but did operate in the state, HAD TO CHARGE unreal high rates. It’s all there in the records. BTW the interchage of RR traffic was shown on Sanborn map. Two RR’s in Cardwell, MO, one lasted a long while Paragould South East (PSE Cotton Belt short line took fuel to Blythville Air Force Base). While even the PSE no longer exists, the other that TRIED was the Paragould to Memphis RR. and nicknamed the Pa and Ma. Tnx for the read of post. endmrw0205251305
No prob, I had used these Sanborn Maps to determine original shop and building locations for the Interurban Sacramento Northern. Additionally, I have used them in Geneaology to find buildings that ancestors lived in that no longer exist. Yes, they are detailed, often showing property owners names, purpose and use of buildings, and features within buildings.
I really like the detail on the Sanborn maps, but I find them very, very difficult to navigate. For the most part, I am trying to hone in on the six downtown Chicago passenger stations and the surrounding freight houses. It is a struggle. It seems that the actual locations don’t match the actual map.
Let me see if I can post an example. Here is a Sanford map of the relevant part of Chicago. When you click on one of the numbered areas, a different area comes up. Unless I am doing something wrong, the indexing is in error.
Rich
The maps scanned by the Library of Congress are free, but the full collection is not available online.
I don’t know what you mean by this. What website are you using? The ones I’ve used in the past, and just checked today, at the LOC are just high-res scans of the maps. There’s no navigation in them.
Well, maybe navigation is not the best word. What I mean is that when I look at a partial map of Chicago for example, and then I select the numbered area that I want to view, it is not the exact area that I expected.
Here is the link that I have tried to use with little success except for wasting a lot of time selecting random numbered areas: