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Union List of Sanborn & Other Fire Insurance Maps

by Philip Hoehn

Select from the list of states below to see what areas and dates are covered

* Many maps available online in color

Alabama *

Alaska

Arizona

Arkansas

California

Colorado *

Connecticut *

Delaware

Florida *

Georgia *

Hawaii

Idaho

Illinois *

Indiana *

Iowa

Kansas *

Kentucky *

Louisiana

Maine

Maryland

Massachusetts

Michigan

Minnesota

Mississippi

Missouri *

Montana

Nebraska

Nevada *

New Hampshire *

New Jersey *

New Mexico

New York

North Carolina *

North Dakota

Ohio

Oklahoma

Oregon

Pennsylvania *

Rhode Island *

South Carolina *

South Dakota

Tennessee

Texas *

Utah *

Vermont

Virginia

Washington

Washington, D.C.

West Virginia

Wisconsin *

Wyoming

British Columbia

Quebec

Mexico *

Bibliography

Owning Institutions

This list adds tens of thousands of additions, corrections and changes of ownership to three lists of Sanborn fire insurance maps issued by the Western Association of Map Libraries in the 1970s (listed below under Hoehn, Woodruff and Hunt; and Rees and Hoeber). Additionally it includes links (when available) to free online versions of the maps, and incorporates works by other firms such as Dakin, Baist, Hopkins and Robinson, some of which are usually referred to as real estate atlases but which some authorities consider to be fire insurance maps.

Unlike other pages in this union list, the page for Canada includes only those maps contained in the Western Association of Map Libraries Occasional Papers 1 and 3. For fire insurance maps of Canada, we instead defer to the following comprehensive publication:

Dubreuil, Lorraine and Cheryl A. Woods. Catalogue of Canadian Fire Insurance Plans 1875-1975. Occasional Papers no. 6. Ottawa: Association of Canadian Map Libraries and Archives, 2002.

Further additions are being made as time permits. Microfilm sets and online maps produced by commercial firms are generally not included.

All maps listed were published by the Sanborn Map Company (or under variant names, e.g., D.A. Sanborn, Sanborn-Perris Map Co., etc.) unless otherwise noted.

Sanborn, Hexamer (and others firms?) published alphabetical "general indexes" of streets, buildings, and other points of interest for larger cities. These are NOT included in this union list. Search for them in your library's catalog or WorldCat


Bibliography of Works about Fire Insurance Maps
by Evelyn L. Woodruff
revised by Philip Hoehn

Recommended General Works

Ristow, Walter W. "United States Fire Insurance and Underwriters Maps, 1852-1968." Quarterly Journal of the Library of Congress, v. 25, no. 3 (July 1968), p. 194-218.

Library of Congress. Geography and Map Division. Reference and Bibliography. Fire Insurance Maps in the Library of Congress: Plans of North American Cities and Towns Produced by the Sanborn Map Company. Washington: Library of Congress, 1981. Online version. It contains an informative introduction by Walter W. Ristow.

Wikipedia. Sanborn Maps

Other Works

Ackerman, Laurence J. Risks We Face: an Introduction to Property Insurance. Rev. ed. New York: National Board of Fire Underwriters, 1956.

Allen, David Yehling. The Mapping of New York State: a Study in the History of Cartography. See "Property Maps and Atlases" in chapter 13.

Applebaum, William. "A Technique for Constructing a Population and Urban Land Use Map." Economic Geography, v. 28, no. 3 (July 1952) p. 240-243.

Arlitsch, Kenneth. "Digitizing Sanborn Fire Insurance MapsTM for a Full Color, Publicly Accessible Collection. http://www.dlib.org/dlib/july02/arlitsch/07arlitsch.html D-Lib Magazine July-Aug. 2002.

Bahre, Stephen. "Sanborn Insurance Maps of Arizona." 3rd ed. U.A. Map News Monthly, v. 4, no. 3 (1972).

Bibliotheque nationale du Quebec. Cartes geographiques. http://services.banq.qc.ca/sdx/cep/accueil.xsp
(Site includes online images of Goad fire insurance maps of Quebec.)

Bowden, Martyn J. "Downtown Through Time: Delimitation, Expansion and Internal Growth." Economic Geography, v. 47, no. 2 (Apr. 1971) p. 121-123.

The Central Sanborn, v. 1, no. 1-3 (1921). Continued by: The Sanborn Survey.

Curtis, Peter H., Richard S. Green and Edward N. McConnell. Fire Insurance Maps of Iowa Cities and Towns: a List of Holdings. Iowa City : Iowa State Historical Department, 1983.

Davis, Allan S. "The Sanborn Story." Special Libraries Association Geography and Map Division Bulletin, no. 157 (1989) p. 42-41 [i.e. 45].

Dubreuil, Lorraine and Cheryl A. Woods. Catalogue of Canadian Fire Insurance Plans 1875-1975. Occasional Papers no. 6. Ottawa: Association of Canadian Map Libraries and Archives, 2002.

Fire Underwriters Association of the Pacific. Proceedings of the Fortieth Annual Meeting. San Francisco, 1916.

Fire Underwriters Association of the Pacific. Proceedings of the Thirty-Fifth Annual Meeting. San Francisco, 1910.

Goodman, Marie C. "Map Producers." Special Libraries Association Geography and Map Division Bulletin, no. 27 (Feb. 1957) p. 4-8.

Gray, Carolyn, Lorraine Dubreuil and Cheryl Woods. "Canadian Fire Insurance Plans: Two Conference Sessions." Association of Canadian Map Libraries and Archives Bulletin, no. 114 (2002) p. 12-15.

Hayward, Robert J. "Chas. E. Goad and Fire Insurance Cartography." Association of Canadian Map Libraries, Proceedings of the 8th Annual Conference, (1974) p. 50-72.

---------- Fire Insurance Plans in the National Map Collection. Ottawa: National Map Collection, Public Archives of Canada, 1977.

Hoehn, Philip. "A Brief Look at the Dakin Publishing Company and Its Fire Insurance Maps." California Warehouse Book; Fire Map of Chico. San Pablo, Calif.: Vlad Shkurkin, 1983, introduction. (Microfilm).

---------- Checklist of Dakin Publishing Company Fire Insurance Maps. 2011.

---------- "The Dakin Publishing Company and Its Fire Insurance Maps." Western Association of Map Libraries Information Bulletin, v. 7, no. 3 (1976) p. 47-59. Online version

---------- "Fire Insurance Maps in the Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley." Western Association of Map Libraries Information Bulletin, v. 3, no. 2 (March, 1972) p. 31-35.

Hoehn, Philip, William S. Peterson-Hunt and Evelyn L. Woodruff. Union List of Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps Held by Institutions in the United States and Canada. Occasional Paper No. 2-3. Santa Cruz, Calif.: Western Association of Map Libraries, 1976-1977. 2 v.

Jones, Mary Ellen. "Fire Insurance Maps: a Lasting Legacy." California Historian, v. 37, no. 1 (Aug. 1990) p. 6-7.

Karrow, Robert W. Review. Special Libraries Association Geography and Map Division Bulletin, no. 97 (Sept. 1974) p. 96-97.

Klein, Jack. Personnel Selection Manual for the Position of Insurance Surveyor, Prepared for Sanborn Map Company. Pelham, N.Y.: Sanborn Map Company, 1956.

Lamb, Robert B. "The Sanborn Map: a Tool for the Geographer." California Geographer, v. 2 (1961) p. 19-22.

Le Gear, Clara. A List of Geographical Atlases in the Library of Congress. Vol. 7. Washington: Library of Congress, 1973.

"Map Monopoly." Fortune Magazine, v. 15 (Feb. 1937) 22-42.

Moffat, Riley. "Union List of Fire Insurance Maps in Hawaii." Western Association of Map Libraries Information Bulletin, v. 20, no. 2 (1989) p. 132-138.

Moody, Eric N. "Urban History in Fire Insurance Maps: Nevada as a Case Study." Western Association of Map Libraries Information Bulletin, v. 10, no. 2 (1979) p. 129-138.

----------. "A Further Note on Nevada's Sanborn Maps: Additional Holdings." Western Association of Map Libraries Information Bulletin, v. 10, no. 3 (1979) p. 259-260.

Musser, Linda. "Copyright Status for Sanborn Maps." Baseline, v. 35, no. 4 (Aug. 2014) p. 25-26. Online version

New York Public Library. Dictionary Catalog of the Map Division. Boston: G.K. Hall, 1971. 10 v.

Oswald, Diane L. Fire Insurance Maps: Their History and Applications. College Station, TX: Lacewing Press, 1997.

Post, Joyce A. Hexamer General Surveys: a Consolidated Name Index. Philadelphia: Post, 1974.

Proehl, Karl H. "Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps of Communities in Missouri Housed in the Elmer Ellis Library, University of Missouri at Columbia." Western Association of Map Libraries Information Bulletin, v. 10, no. 3 (1979) p. 280-291.

"Profiles of Property." Journal of American Insurance, v. 39 (Mar. 1963) p. 21.

Rees, Gary W. "The Use of Sanborn Maps at California State University, Northridge." Speech presented at meeting of the Western Association of Map Libraries, San Francisco, Oct. 25, 1974.

Rees, Gary W. and Mary Hoeber. Catalogue of Sanborn Atlases at California State University, Northridge. Occasional Paper No. 1. Santa Cruz, Calif.: Western Association of Map Libraries, 1973. (Holdings and front matter from this volume are converted and are up on this website)

Ross, Stanley H. "The Central Business District of Mexico City as Indicated on the Sanborn Maps of 1906." Professional Geographer, v. 23, no. 1 (Jan. 1971) p. 31-39.

Sanborn in Review, 1945.

Sanborn Map Company. Catalogue of Insurance Maps Published by Sanborn Map Company. New York: Sanborn Map Company, 1902, 1922, 1924, 1926, 1928, 1932, 1939, 1950. (1922 has title: Catalogue of Insurance and Real Estate Maps)

----------. Description and Utilization of the New Reduced Size Sanborn Map. Pelham, N.Y.: Sanborn Map Company, 1953.

------. Description and Utilization of the Sanborn Sanborn Map. New York: Sanborn Map Company, ©1940 (4 versions)+, ©1949; ©1953 (several editions)++ and ©1960.

------. The Sanborn Map. New York: Sanborn Map Company, ©1953++

----------. Sixtieth Anniversary, 1866-1926. New York: Sanborn Map Company, [1926?]

------. A Story of Accomplishment, 1866-1916. New York: Sanborn Map Company, [1916]

------. Surveyor's Manual for the Exclusive Use and Guidance of Employees of the Sanborn Map Company. New York: Sanborn Map Company, 1905.

Sanborn Map Company. Special Services Division. Sanborn Services for City and National Planners. Pelham, N.Y.: Sanborn Map Company, 1950.

The Sanborn Survey, v. 1, no. 4 (1921)-v. 11 (1932)? Continues: The Central Sanborn.

Shkurkin, Vlad. Precise Maps of Old Western Towns: Fire Insurance Maps as Primary Historic Records. [San Pablo, Calif.]: Vlad Shkurkin, 1984. Paper presented to the 1984 Annual Conference of the Historical Society of New Mexico, Taos.

---------- "Sanborn Maps: Some Personal Notes and Comments." Western Association of Map Libraries Information Bulletin, v. 24, no. 2 (Mar. 1993) p. 99-102. Online version

Sorenson, Justin B. "Reconstructing the Past Through Utah Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps: a Geospatial Approach to Library Resources." D-Lib Magazine, v. 21, no. 3/4 (Mar./Apr. 2015).

Starin, Nicholas. Location List of Sanborn Insurance Maps for Portland, Oregon. Compiled by Nicholas Starin, Portland Bureau of Planning.

Stevens, Stanley D. "Color Microfilming of Sanborn Maps for a Local History Collection." Special Libraries Association Geography and Map Division Bulletin, no. 82 (Dec. 1970) p. 21-25.

---------- "Lighthouse Point: Discovery of Historical Land Use Through Maps, Photos and Text." Special Libraries Association Geography and Map Division Bulletin, no. 92 (June 1973) p. 2-11.

Vicero, Ralph D. "The Sanborn Map Collection of the Western United States at San Fernando Valley State College." Historical Geography Newsletter, v. 2, no. 1 (Spring 1972) p. 49-60.

Wells, G. Greeley. "Recent Developments at the Sanborn Map Company." Speech presented at meeting of the Western Association of Map Libraries, San Francisco, Oct. 25, 1974.

Western Association of Map Libraries. "Minutes, Western Association of Map Libraries Meeting, October 24 and 25, 1974, San Francisco Public Library." Western Association of Map Libraries Information Bulletin, v. 6 (March, 1975) p. 4-7.

Wolf, Sally. "The City Planning Library." Speech presented at the Bay Area Reference Center workshop "Planning for the Future," San Francisco, Feb. 2-3, 1972.

Woods, Cheryl. "Brief Report on Fire Insurance Plan Project with Library and Archives Canada." Association of Canadian Map Libraries and Archives Bulletin, no. 132 (Spring-Summer 2008) p. 45-46.

Woodward, Frances and Robert J. Hayward. Fire Insurance Plans of British Columbia Municipalities: a Checklist. Vancouver: TRIUL, 1974.

Wrigley, Robert L. "Sanborn Maps As a Source of Land Use Information for City Planning." Land Economics, v. 25, no. 2 (May 1949) p. 216-219.

+ There are four variants with a copyright date of 1940, (LABM, LASM, O1, FIC).

++ There are least four variants with a copyright date of 1953, but probably actually published between 1953 and 1960. There are variations in titles (Description and Utilization of the Sanborn Map or The Sanborn Map), cover-titles, pagination, office addresses and in covers having rounded or square fore corners.


Advisory Committee: John Creaser, Larry Cruse, David Deckelbaum, Bill Hunt, Bill Raymond, Vladimir V. Shkurkin (2002-2013), and Evelyn Woodruff.

With thanks to: Jennifer V. Opager Baughn, William Beutner, Benjamin Helle, Jenny Marie Johnson, Nancy Kandoian, John LaMont, Greg Lange, Lou Malcomb, Jonathon L. McConnel, Marianne M. McKee, Juli McLoone, Nancy J. Meuth, Joyce Nelson, Linda Newman, Ed Nolan, J.B. Post, Susan Powell, Bill Raymond, Emma Roberts, Eric Stanley, Kent Sullivan, Michael Swift, Kris Tacsik, Laura Wright and Linda Zelmer.

Dedicated to Mary Lynette Larsgaard, Stanley D. Stevens and Edward P. Thatcher.

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