SANBORN MAPS:A Window to the Past and

a Tool for the Future

Talk Outline

I. What are Sanborn Maps?

II. History of Sanborn Company

III. Details about the Sanborn Maps

IV. Uses of the Sanborn Maps

V. Understanding the Maps

VI. CU’s Collection

VII. Accessing CU’s Collection

I. What are Sanborn Maps?

Sanborn Maps

Fire Insurance Maps

Large Scale

Detailed (50 feet to 1 inch)

Date Back to the 1860s

Updated Regularly Until 1950s

Detail of painting from 1666 of the Great Fire of London by an unknown artist. Photo taken from Wikipedia

London was prone to fires throughout its history

Fire Insurance Maps emerged in London in the late 1700s

From: http://www.oldmap.co.uk/detailmaps/londafterfiredetail.jpg

•Mapping companies supplied information to insurance underwriters.

•The American Insurance Industry spurred the growth of mapping companies in the late 1800s

II. The History of the Sanborn Maps

From: http://www.rotograph.org/Fire.jpg

Insurance underwriters were interested in basing their rates according to the relative risk of fires in the commercial districts of American cities.

From: http://www.tombstone1880.com/archives/hotel.jpg

Daniel A. Sanborn founded the Sanborn National Insurance

Diagram Bureau in New York City after

successfully surveying Boston

Portrait of Daniel A. Sanborn from: http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/EART/snb-intr.html

Adopted the Name “Sanborn Map Company” in 1902 and Eventually Emerged

as the Leader in the Field

From: http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/EART/snb-intr.html

•Richly detailed and comprehensive maps

•Good management practices

The Sanborn Company’s success was due to

•Absorption of other companies

•Highly accurate

•Standardized symbolization

At Sanborn’s peak (1920s):

•employed surveyors in every state

•held a virtual monopoly

Published a system of standards for accuracy in 1905

Surveyors:

-Worked anonymously

-Names never appeared on maps

-Surveyors occasionally gained notoriety or celebrity after leaving the Company

From: Wikipedia

Daniel Carter Beard

“While working for them I not only saw all those places I had heard about but I made maps of them, made diagrams of all the homes in each town and city I visited. I took delight in putting into my records mention of real occupancy, genteel or disreputable. After four or five years of this work I knew a lot about our people, saints and sinners, rich and poor.”

Dan Beard, Hardly a Man Is Now Alive, the Autobiography of Dan Beard (New York, 1939), p. 225

III. Details About the Sanborn Maps

Most Sanborn maps were drawn at a scale of 50 feet to 1 inch until after WW II

Quickbird Satellite Image

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

Maps focus on urban areas

Maps Include:

Details regarding the size, shape, and construction of commercial buildings, dwellings, and structures

Paonia Colorado circa 1908 From ghostdepot.com

Maps Include:

Not just location but the composition of all buildings within a city or town

Stone BuildingFireproof Building

Wood Frame Building

Wood Frame w/ Iron Facade

Maps Include:

Noted strength of fire department and sometimes the number of engines or firefighters at each station

Maps Include:

Location of water and gas mains as well as things like sprinklers, hydrants, and alarms

Maps Include:

Labels on most public buildings:From landmarks to brothels (“Female Boarding”, “FB”, “Ill Fame”, “Bagnios” etc.)

Reno, NV 1899

Maps Include:

Street names, railroad lines, and Indian Reservations

http://www.lakemirabel.com/Railroad/Fishkill/20_Beacon_1921_t_m.jpg

Some maps may included information about prevailing winds and population estimates

Sanborn Company resurveyed quickly after a disaster to note the buildings that had survived or been lost.

For Example it took less than one week following the Chicago Stockyard fire of 1934 to produce updated map

Thematic Map of Chicago Stockyard Produced by the Sanborn Company (date unknown)

Chicago Stockyards 1947

In 1930 Sanborn Co. began to allow correction plates

Corrections and Updates:

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

IV. Uses of the Sanborn Maps

Urban Morphology

Studies the physical form of a city including• street patterns• buildings sizes and shapes• architecture• population density • patterns of land uses

How does physical form produce or reproduce social forms?

Urban Morphology

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”

The development of the Barrio Libre Neighborhood, Tuscon

1886190119191948

Historical Sociology

Studies the past to find out how societies work and change

Example: Washington DC “alley life”

Photo fromhttp://www.economist.com

Alley Dwellings

After the Civil War small dwellings were built in the allies that ran between many city blocks in D.C.

The most common residents of these allies were poor or African American.

Public perception of allies and inhabitants:• filthy• squalid• crime ridden• drunken• rampant immorality and disease

Louse Alley

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 Charles Weller's 1909 expose Neglected Neighbors.

“Bawdy houses” and “alley dwellings” were abolished during early twentieth century Reform Movements

Louse Alley, then renamed Armory Place, was reconfigured as a minor street.

Armory Place was demolished in the 1930s as an attempt to further rid the city of “alley dwellings” and as part of a “beautification” campaign

Temporary housing was erected after WWII and for a time part of the area was used as dedicated open space.

Louse Alley

Louse Alley Currently the American Indian Museum stands on part of the site of Louse Alley.

Before the Museum was built intensive archeological investigations of Lots 11 and 12 of Louse Alley were conducted in Reservation C

Louse Alley

-Mary Anne Hall’s Brothel (Lot 12)

- Adjacent parcel theorized to be a trash dump for the brothel and location of a boarding house (Lot 11)

Corks, foil and wire from champagne

bottles

Fine pottery

Louse Alley

Sanborn maps guided the

excavation and are one of the few

records of both “alley life” and “alley dwellers”

http://www.si.edu/oahp/madam/index.html

http://www.si.edu/oahp/nmaidig/

All references and photos used were taken from the Smithsonian Institute:

Louse Alley

Archeology

As evident from the Louse Alley example the Sanborn maps frequently aid archeologist.

From Footprint of a Sawmill:Archeological Investigation Into the Nurre Sawmill in Williamsburg, KY (by Grant, Keit, and Mauck)

Historic Preservation

“The process of preserving part of a community, from an individual building or part of a building to a whole neighborhood (including roadways and waterways), because of its historical importance.” (from urbanplan.org)

Taos square in historic Georgetown awaits restoration

Historic Preservation

Since the maps contain such rich details regarding the size, shape, and construction of commercial buildings, dwellings, and structures they are an excellent resource for historic preservation.

From: http://saahp.rwu.edu/saahp_gallery/cms-files/historicpreservation/01.jpg

Genealogy

The study or investigation of ancestry and family history.

Campbell of Glenorchy Family TreeGeorge Jamesone, 1635.Scottish National Portrait Gallery

Genealogy

Sanborn’s generally do not contain family names so they are often used when the address of an ancestor is known.

Since the Sanborn maps only cover urban areas they are best for research city dwelling ancestors

Treasure Hunting

Bottle hunters and individuals who use metal detectors to find treasure often use the Sanborn maps to locate privy or outhouse sites.

Compliments of “Digger” from “bottlebooks.com

V. Understanding the Maps

Understanding Sanborn Maps

Sanborn maps contain a rich amount of information and detail

In order to understand and interpret the maps you must make use of a complex legend

VI. CU’s Collection

•Largest collection of Colorado Sanborn maps outside of the Library of Congress

•Presented as a gift by the Library of Congress in the late 1960s

•The collection includes over 567 color maps produced between 1883 – 1931

CU’s Complete Collection

The holdings include a nearly complete collection of what was mapped in Colorado

More mapping was conducted in regions that were more populated or had significant mining activity in the late 19th and early 20th centuries*

CU’s Complete Collection

* Leadville’s peak number of map sheets date from the late 1800sThe collection also includes some “ghost towns”

Maps can be accesses from 9-5 M-F Jerry Crail Johnson Earth Sciences and Map LibraryWebsite: http://ucblibraries.colorado.edu/map/

Contact the library staff in advance Via email: maplib@colorado.edu

Via phone: 303-492-7578

Accessing Paper Maps

•Sanborn maps do not circulate

•Cannot photocopy the maps

•Digital photographs are permitted

•Some maps are also available on microfiche* and can be printed out

Accessing Paper Maps (Cont’d)

Scanned collection includes:• 346 maps on 2,385 sheets, • 79 cities • 52 counties • spans 1883-1922

VII. Accessing CU’s Digital Collection

A Quick overview of CU’s interface

Digital Collection can be accessed at http://ucblibraries.colorado.edu/sanborn/