Yes, this issue is a week early because I thought today was the first of May. So let's get on with it, as the late Prince Philip would say.
This issue of First Friday Genealogy with Sassy Jane features information about using fire insurance maps. June's issue will show you where to find these maps online for US and international locations.
Now insurance maps may sound rather prosaic, or even downright dull. But if you just nodded off, wake up, please!
Fire insurance maps are goldmines for genealogists. They can add to our understanding of exactly where our ancestors lived.
In the days before digitizing, these insurance maps were one of the most expensive items in library budgets. And now most of them are online for free. If they seem intimidating at first, let's dive in right now and see how insurance maps are great for research.
Insurance companies created these maps for urban areas to determine how many buildings they had insured in a specific area.
At a time when whole neighborhoods or towns could go up in flames, these maps helped underwriters protect insurances companies by spreading risk and assessing liability.
(Almost insanely) detailed information on properties and individual buildings was complied for approximately 12,000 U.S. cities and towns were recorded. You can even find out prevailing wind patterns (which probably helped that courthouse burned down that had your family records inside).
Often referred to as Sanborn maps, after the publishing company that monopolized the field, most fire insurance maps date to the 19th and 20th centuries.
What's Included in Fire Insurance Maps
An enormous amount of information about the built environment is included on these maps, lithographed at a scale of 50 feet to one inch (1:600). The maps for each particular location usually included:
Decorative title page
Index of streets and addresses
Key for colors and symbols
"Specials" index with the names of businesses, churches, schools
Master index for the entire mapped area with sheet numbers
Large-scale maps (usually depicting four to six blocks)
Birds-eye view of the town
And the detail doesn't stop there. Outlines of each building and outbuilding; street names; property boundaries; natural features (rivers, canals, etc.); building use (sometimes even particular room uses); house and block number.
The names of most public buildings, churches, and businesses are often records, along with homes of community leaders. Brothels often appear in towns with mining and heavy industry. And more ephemeral buildings, such as outhouses and stables, are often included.
The first image at the top of this newsletter is detail from birds-eye view of Cripple Creek, Colorado. The image below is the title page and street plan from the same set of maps.
So be sure to make time for your research and I'll see you in June with links to Sanborn maps online for US and international locations. And answer that survey email you'll receive, please.
