Fire Insurance Maps
See also: Map Collection | Map Basics
Fire insurance maps were originally produced for the insurance industry to assess the risk of fire and the cost of insurance. A major producer of these maps was the Sanborn Company. The maps were usually at scales of 50 to 100 feet to an inch and included detailed information about residential and commercial buildings such as building material, number of stories, and street address. Other relevant features were also shown such as the type of business and the location of utilities, water pipes, and fire hydrants.
These historical maps provide a unique and valuable look at American cities during the first half of the twentieth century. Publications that provide more information are:
Fire Insurance Maps in the Library of Congress (Gov Pubs Micro/US LC 5.2:F51) identifies the towns and cities of these maps, their original dates of publication, and the latest years of changes made to the original maps.
Fire Insurance Maps : Their History and Applications by Diane L. Oswald (located in 3rd Floor Books at HG9771 .O85 1997).
Map legends are available online from The Sanborn Map Company. See the
original legend and the black and white version.
How to find the maps
The library owns the original map books for San Diego and select cities as well as a microform collection. For information about fire insurance maps owned by other libraries, see the Western Association of Map Libraries Union List of Sanborn & other Fire Insurance Maps.
Original Map Books
The library owns the original, full-color map books for the cities of Coronado, La Jolla, La Mesa, National City, and San Diego. These are located in Special Collections. See the Special Collections web page for information about hours and policies.
Fire insurance maps of Coronado, Cal
New York : Sanborn Map Co., c1922-1955
Location: Spec Coll Folio G1529.C6 S3
Fire insurance map of La Jolla, Cal
San Francisco, Calif. : Sanborn Map Co., c1926-1957
Location: Spec Coll Folio G1529.L2 S3
Fire insurance map of La Mesa, Calif
San Francisco, Calif. : Sanborn Map Co., c1929-1957
Location: Spec Coll Folio G1529.L3 S3
Fire insurance map of National City, Calif
New York : Sanborn Map Co., c1926-1957
Location: Spec Coll Folio G1529.N3 S3
Insurance maps of San Diego, California
New York, Sanborn Map Co., 1920-1955
v. 1-3: 1920-21 maps corrected with paste-on slips through 1955
v. 4: 1940 maps corrected with paste-on slips through 1955
Location: Spec Coll Folio G1529.S4 S3 v.1-4
Microfilm Collection
The microfilm collection, located in the Current Periodicals & Microforms Center (1st floor, Love Library), includes the maps of San Diego and a few other cities produced by the Sanborn Map Company between about 1884 and 1970. This microfilm collection is in black and white and so it looses much of the information originally relayed with color (e.g. type of building material). The maps are arranged alphabetically by name of city or town; within each city or town, in chronological order in the order that they appear. They were reproduced from the original copies in the Geography and Map Division of the Library of Congress. Updates were made regularly to original maps, and so the microfiche collection is a snapshot of the maps as they were at a particular time. Fire Insurance Maps in the Library of Congress, listed above, is a useful companion to the set because it gives the original dates of publication and the latest years of changes made to the original maps.
Sanborn fire insurance maps, 1950-1970. California
Location: Microforms Center F-3803 - LIBRARY USE ONLY
Covers: Maps and updates made between 1950 - 1970. Includes black and white reproductions of the atlases for:
Reel 76: Riverside, Sacramento, San Bernardino, and San Diego
Sanborn fire insurance maps. California
Location: Microforms Center F-3821 - LIBRARY USE ONLY
Covers: Maps and updates made between about 1884 - 1950. Includes black and white reproductions of the atlases for:
Reel 52: San Bernardino, San Bruno, San Buenaventura, San Carlos, San Clemente, San Diego
Reel 53: San Diego
Reel 54: San Diego, San Dimas, San Fernando, and San Francisco(part)
