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Sanborn Maps Offer Graphic Details Of Past

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By SHARON TATE MOODY

Tribune correspondent

Published: June 15, 2008

I recently read a report by the executor of the estate of a man who died in 1872. It surprised me when I saw an entry for $28.13 paid in 1873 for "insurance on house." Why had I thought of home insurance as a modern-day thing?

This called for some historical research. I learned that merchants actually had a form of insurance as early as 1750 B.C. The Code of Hammurabi included a section allowing merchants to insure their shipments. The Babylonians sought loans to fund their shipments and could post an additional sum guaranteeing that if the shipment were stolen they did not have to repay the loan.

The history of insuring homes can be traced to 1666, when the Great Fire of London destroyed more than 13,000 homes. The following year, Nicholas Barbon formed the first property insurance company for fire damage in London. The first American property insurance company was in Charleston, S.C., in 1732. In 1752, Benjamin Franklin founded the Philadelphia Contributionship for the Insurance of Houses From Loss by Fire.

But the insurance company that left the biggest legacy for genealogists was the one established in 1867 by D.A. Sanborn. Sanborn's company created insurance maps from 1867 through 1961, although its mapmaking dropped considerably in the 1930s.

Underwriters used the maps to determine risks and establish premiums. Genealogists can use them in conjunction with city directories and censuses to learn more about the houses in which their ancestors lived.

These maps show street addresses, the purpose of each building - hotel, mercantile, medical, etc. - the building material for each structure, its height and street number.

The Sanborn maps were lithographically printed in Pelham, N.Y. Using wax paper stencils, employees colored the maps by hand. The maps were available on unbound sheets for towns and cities if the map coverage could be published on less than 100 pages. For larger cities with more than 100 pages, the volumes were bound.

Colors on the maps denote the construction material: Frame structures were yellow; brick structures were red; stone buildings were grey.

The largest collection of Sanborn maps is in the Library of Congress' Geography and Map Division. Many also are widely available in public and college libraries. Sanborn created maps in every state. The company made more than 1 million maps of more than 12,000 cities and towns. Most of the maps were updated over multiple years.

Some libraries and archives offer digitized Sanborns on the Internet. The digitized maps belong to Environmental Data Resources, which offers subscriptions to businesses and agencies such as libraries. Check with libraries in the areas your ancestors lived from the mid-1800s to the 1930s, and ask whether Sanborns are available online.

One of the best ways to use the Sanborns is in conjunction with city directories. Almost every library has a collection of old local directories. If you've found your ancestor in a directory, you can locate the address on the maps.

The Sanborns don't give names of people who lived in the houses. They also don't identify businesses by name unless they were major ones. If you learn that Great-Grandpa Henry owned a barbershop at 107 Main St. in Littletown, the building on the map will be labeled only "barbershop."

It's worthwhile, though, to see who Henry's commercial neighbors were. Perhaps a butcher shop was next door, and a livery stable was across the street. This is where the imagination conjures up the activity in Henry's typical business day.

But a Sanborn will contain some rich details. For example, in a Sanford map of Rome, Ga., 403 E. Second Ave. is a dwelling. The map shows it in yellow, which means frame construction, and a small "x" signifies a shingle roof. The house has a large wraparound porch. To the rear is a frame structure, probably a storage shed, and a large one-story frame dwelling marked "servants." Indeed, the owner had a fine turn-of-the-20th-century home.

So if your summer travels include a research trip to your ancestors' hometown, stop by the library and ask about the availability of Sanborn maps.

You may find your ancestors' home is long-gone, replaced by urban development. But at least go and look at the property with map in hand and your imagination in gear.

Write to Sharon Tate Moody in care of The Tampa Tribune, 200 S. Parker St., Tampa FL 33606; or stmoody0720@mac.com.

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