Interactive Historical Sanborn Fire Maps project
Content Description
This collection is a digital collection of interactive maps that combine a current aerial view with historical Sanborn fire insurance maps, allowing the user to compare what cities looked like in the past with how they look today. Historic photographs have also been pinned into the map at significant locations. The following cities and towns are included in this project: Marquette, 1917; Ishpeming, 1911; Negaunee, 1911; Republic, 1922; Michigamme, 1902; L'Anse, 1938.
Dates
- 1902 - 2022
Conditions Governing Access
No restrictions. Open for research.
Conditions Governing Use
Permission to publish material from MSS-446, Interactive Historical Sanborn Fire Maps project, must be obtained from the University Archivist. The University Archivist may be reached by phone at (906) 227-1225 or email, archives@nmu.edu. The University Archivist may also be reached in Room 126 of the Learning Resource Center, Northern Michigan University, Marquette, MI.
Biographical / Historical
Bob Cowling created this project.
The Sanborn Map and Publishing Company, founded by Daniel Alfred Sanborn in 1867, has created detailed fire insurance maps of more than 12,000 cities in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Although the company still exists and publishes periodic revisions to their maps, they have not issued new catalogs since 1950. The initial purpose of the maps was to record information useful for fire insurance agents, such as property boundaries and owners, building uses, house numbers, construction materials, and the location of fire safety equipment, windows, and doors. Today, however, the maps are primarily used by municipal governments, engineers, architects, historians, and genealogists for their data on land use, urban development, ownership of buildings, and more.
Source: Library of Congress, "Introduction to the Sanborn Map Collection," https://www.loc.gov/rr/geogmap/sanborn/san4a1.html.
Extent
70.8 Megabytes
Language of Materials
English
Existence and Location of Originals
The maps can be accessed at:
-Marquette County:https://archives.nmu.edu/sanborn_mqt-main/sanborn_mqt-main/index.html
-L'Anse:https://archives.nmu.edu/lansesanborn-main/lansesanborn-main/index.html
- Baraga County (Mich.). Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Ishpeming (Mich.). Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- L'Anse (Mich.). Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Maps. Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
- Marquette (Mich.). Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Marquette County (Mich.). Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Michigamme (Mich.) Subject Source: Local sources
- Negaunee (Mich.). Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Republic (Mich.). Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Title
- Interactive Historical Sanborn Fire Maps project
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Annika Peterson
- Date
- 24 January 2022
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Repository Details
Part of the Central Upper Peninsula and Northern Michigan University Archives Repository
Harden Learning Resources Center 126
1401 Presque Isle Ave
Marquette 49855 United States
906-227-1225
906-227-1333 (Fax)
archives@nmu.edu
