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Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps |
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Introduction
| Finding and Using Sanborn Maps at
UM | Online
Sanborn Maps from ProQuest Microfilm Series Index to Detroit, Ann Arbor, and Ypsilanti Sanborn Maps IntroductionBeginning in 1867, the Sanborn Map Company produced its fire insurance maps to provide uniform and detailed information about the built environment to insurance companies for the purposes of risk assessment. These large-scale maps, drawn at a scale of 1 inch : 50 feet (and later at 1 inch : 100 feet), indicate the dimensions, construction, and function of buildings, and also show features such as property boundaries, street names, and house and block numbers. Sanborn fire insurance maps are therefore an excellent source of information about urban development in American cities in the later 19th and the 20th centuries. For more information on the history of fire insurance maps and the Sanborn Company as well as on the collection of the Library of Congress and other libraries with fire insurance map holdings, see the preface and introduction to Fire Insurance Maps in the Library of Congress: A Checklist, found on Berkeley Earth Sciences and Map Library web site. A printed copy is also available in the UM Map Library (Z 6026 .I7 U541). Please note: Most updated versions of Sanborn and other fire insurance maps are original editions with pasted-on correction slips. In such cases, the date of the information is usually a penciled date contained in a corrections box at the beginning of the set or volume, rather than the date appearing on the title sheet. Finding and Using Sanborn Maps at UMMIRLYN Searches Sanborn fire insurance maps may be searched in the MIRLYN online library catalog using the following subject headings: Insurance, Fire--Michigan--[City Name]--Maps and surveys Please note that the records for microfilm sets covering Michigan will not be retrieved if a city name is added to a search. Local Holdings Map Library The Map Library holds printed volumes for the following cities only:
The Map Library also holds printed volumes of Baist's Real Estate Atlas of Surveys of Detroit and Suburbs, plat maps that show features similar to Sanborn maps, such as the locations and names of major buildings, the construction material of buildings, rail lines, and water mains:
Serials and Microforms Department, Hatcher Graduate Library The Graduate Library holds two large microfilm sets of Sanborn fire insurance maps for Michigan, located in the Serials and Microforms Department. To identify and access maps for a particular city and time period, an index or contents page must be consulted, listed here under the notes section of each set:
The Bentley Historical Library on North Campus holds many Sanborn fire insurance maps for Michigan on microfilm. Its holdings can be determined by searching mirlyn or contacting the Bentley Library directly. Obtaining Sanborn Maps Not Held by UMThe Detroit Public Library houses Sanborn fire insurance maps for Detroit and other Michigan cities. For more information about available holdings, contact the Map Collection, which is located at the Main Library. The Center for Research Libraries holds microfilm copies of all Sanborn fire insurance maps indexed in Fire Insurance Plans in the Library of Congress: A Checklist (Map Library Z 6026 .I7 U541). They may be borrowed by UM affiliates through Interlibrary Loan. On your request, please indicate the entry number, city name, and dates of the maps, and volume numbers from this publication. Purchasing information for obtaining copies of historical and current Sanborn maps is listed on Cornell's Olin Library web site. Introduction
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Map.Library@umich.edu Last updated on 2 February 2005 Copyright 2002 by the Regents of The University of Michigan. All Rights Reserved. |
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