All posts in Pennsylvania Geography

Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps: Much More than Meets the Eye

This post was written by Paige Andrew, Maps Cataloging Librarian.

A portion of sheet 1 of the 1906 Sanborn map of State College, Pennsylvania. Note the added textual information such as population of 1000 included in the title frame.

A portion of sheet 1 of the 1906 Sanborn map of State College, Pennsylvania. Note the added textual information such as population of 1000 included in the title frame.

For nearly a century and a half the maps that comprise a historic Pennsylvania collection in the Libraries, published by the Sanborn Map Company (and earlier iterations of the name), have long provided a unique, graphic, primary resource for a variety of research needs. Sanborn fire insurance maps have tracked the growth of cities and towns in the United States over time and provide an abundance of information on each community represented.

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