collection

Sanborn fire insurance maps

• 1902-1930 (Creation)

118 jpg files in 13 folders (36.2 MB)

The Sanborn Co. was founded in 1867 by D.A. Sanborn, to draw maps of the downtown districts of cities across the U.S. These maps could then be consulted by insurance companies if a building burned to research different characteristics about the business and the physical structure. The company stopped making the fire insurance maps in 1961, due to other sources being used to obtain the needed information. Today, they serve as a wonderful resource for tracing the growth of cities and tracking where businesses were located decades ago. We have these maps on microfilm for the entire state of Wisconsin. We also have copies of the actual maps in paper format for cities in our four-county area. The dates range from approximately the 1880s to the 1920s for our area. The maps were not issued regularly, so do not expect any pattern as to when the maps came out for various cities.

Arranged by name of town, thereunder chronologically.

These files are only available digitally, with the exception of River Falls, which has printed versions available for researchers visiting the reading room.

Researchers are responsible for using in accordance with 17 U.S.C. Copyright may have not been transferred to the University of Wisconsin-River Falls.

Library of Congress, Geography and Map Division, Sanborn Maps Collection.
These files were downloaded from Library of Congress Sanborn Fire Insurance Company map collection. Full TIFF files are findable on Library of Congress' website. Researchers are responsible for using in accordance with 17 U.S.C. Copyright may have not been transferred to the University of Wisconsin-River Falls.

To interpret Sanborn maps, look for the map key, often at the beginning of the map, but not always. This will assist in the interpretation of the map. Fire insurance maps indicate many different building structures and codes through colors and symbols. Different building materials and resources resulted in different building styles and representations on the maps. For example, the use of adobe will not be seen in states East of the Mississippi River.

Digital jpg's taken from scans made by the Library of Congress Sanborn Fire Insurance Map collection online for counties in Burnett, Pierce, Polk, and St. Croix Counties. Cities included at time of cataloging include Amery (Polk County), Baldwin (St. Croix County), Ellsworth (Pierce County), Frederic (Polk County), Glenwood City (Burnett County), Grantsburg (Burnett County), Hammond (St. Croix County), Hudson (St. Croix County), New Richmond (St. Croix County), Osceola (Polk County), River Falls, (Pierce and St. Croix Counties), Spring Valley (Pierce County), St. Croix Falls (Polk County).
Visit Library of Congress online webpage for tiff files.

• Hammond (Wis.) St. Croix County (Wis.)
• Ellsworth (Wis.) Pierce County (Wis.)
• Grantsburg (Wis.) Burnett County (Wis.)
• River Falls (Wis.) Pierce County (Wis.)
• Hudson (Wis.) St. Croix County
• Baldwin (Wis.) Pierce County (Wis.)
• Frederic (Wis.) Polk County (Wis.)
• Glenwood City (Wis.) St. Croix County (Wis.)
• Amery (Wis.) Polk (Wis.)
• New Richmond (Wis.) St. Croix County (Wis.)
• Osceola (Wis.) Polk County (Wis.)
• Spring Valley (Wis.) Pierce County (Wis.)
• St. Croix Falls (Wis.) Polk County (Wis.)