Historic Sanborn Fire Maps

Earlier this year, a colleague mentioned to me the availability of historic fire maps available for communities across Iowa that were accessible via the State Library of Iowa. From the State Library’s website:

Digital Sanborn fire insurance maps are a very useful tool for local historians, demographers, city planners, genealogists, and anyone studying the history of an urban area. The maps were developed by the Sanborn Company in the latter part of the 19th century for the purpose of showing fire hazards for each building in a town. Maps cover over 360 Iowa towns from the 1870’s to the 1920’s.

From a mapping perspective, this resource is amazing. The amount of information that is contained on a single map combined with the span of dates available makes for a great place for communities to start when they need to do a little digging about the past. Many of the maps are “only” as recent as the 1950s and some go back into the 1880s.

The first thing you’ll need to do from the State Library’s website is register for a State Library of Iowa card. An easy and free resource that puts the power of historic maps at your fingertips.