FIMo: Fire Insurance Maps Online : Map Resources

Fire Insurance Maps

These maps were designed to assist fire insurance agents determine damage to a property and show accurate information to help determine risks and establish premiums. Now they are used for historical research (environmental and architectural), urban archeology, and geography. Maps were drawn at the scale of 1 inch = 50 feet (later, 1 inch = 100 feet), which allowed very specific details such as building dimensions and the type of construction (frame, brick, stone) to be identified within the maps.

Fire Insurance Map Abbreviations and Key Legends

FIMo Guide

Library of Congress Sanborn Maps Guide

MIT Sanborn Guide

Real Estate Atlases

Real Estate Atlases provide information about property boundaries, plot sizes, ownership, building shapes, and materials.

Full Text Journal Articles

Patton, D.K., Lobben, A.K. and Pape, B.M., 2005. “Mapping cities and towns in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries: a look at plat, Sanborn, and panoramic mapping activities in Michigan.” The Michigan Historical Review, pp. 93 - 122.
 

Wright, H., 1983. “Insurance Mapping and Industrial Archeology.” IA. The Journal of the Society for Industrial Archeology, pp.1-18.
 

York, Abigail, Joseph Tuccillo, Christopher Boone, Bob Bolin, Lauren Gentile, Briar Schoon, and Kevin Kane. 2014. “Zoning and Land Use: A Tale of Incompatibility and Environmental Injustice in Early Phoenix.” Journal of Urban Affairs 36 (5): pp. 833 - 853.
 

Seymour, Michael W., and Peter R. Summerlin. 2017. “Evidence and Deception: A Historic Photo-Analysis Method for Landscape Studies.” Landscape Journal 36 (2): pp. 91 - 109.

Journal Article Citations, full text articles can be requested through Interlibrary Loan

Lamb, R.A., 1961. The Sanborn map: a tool for the geographer.
Leonard, A.E. and Spellane, P., 2013. “Using Old Maps and New Methods to Discover the Early Chemicals and Petroleum Industries of Newtown Creek in New York City.” Journal of Map & Geography Libraries, 9(1-2), pp. 25 - 43.
 

Page, M.C., Durante, K. and Gue, R., 2013. “Modeling the History of the City.” Journal of Map & Geography Libraries, 9(1-2), pp.128 - 139.
 

Ryan, B.D. and Campo, D., 2013. “Autopia’s end: The decline and fall of Detroit’s automotive manufacturing landscape.” Journal of Planning History, May 2013, Vol. 12 Issue 2, pp. 95 - 132. 38p.
 

Thrall, G.I. and Knetsch, J., 2014. “Archival Surveys, Historical Maps, and Textual Communications Contributions to Determining Legal Issues of Land Today.” Journal of Map & Geography Libraries, 10(2), pp.245 - 252.