How to Read Sanborn Maps in Ephemeral Cities
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How to Read Sanborn Maps in Ephemeral Cities How to Read Sanborn Maps in Ephemeral Cities Background Ephemeral Cities draws on the Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps for historical information. Because they are fire insurance maps, they contain a great deal of historically important material, including information on the types of building materials for the main buildings and for component elements like chimneys, and much more. This information is then listed spatially and chronologically with each map listing the year, area of the city, and the individual footprints of buildings with the proximity to other buildings, to roads, and other geographical information. Reading the Sanborn Maps within Ephemeral Cities The Sanborn Maps can be read in relation to the map key on the next page. Note that the map is color-coded for building material. Using the Sanborn Map Key and Ephemeral Cities, find the building material for the area of Ybor City that burned in 1908. • First, find the map within Ephemeral Cities. • Open the Ephemeral Cities webpage with a browser: http://www.uflib.ufl.edu/epc/ • Then, on the “Browse by City” view, click on the city name. For this exercise, click on “Tampa.” • On the next page, select a year. For this exercise, choose 1903. • On the next page, select a region of the city. For this exercise, choose the region that corresponds to the region of Ybor City that burned in the 1908 fire. • After selecting a region, the next screen shows the full Ephemeral Cities interface. The interface combines the historical Sanborn Insurance Maps with other historical information from City Directories and government publications. • Finally, use the mapped or search interface to find the burned area. Examine that area to find out what businesses burned and what building materials that had been built with. A map of the area burnt in Ybor City is online within the Florida Ephemera collection (http://www.uflib.ufl.edu/UFDC/?s=flep&b=SF70000194 ), but other resources also list the area that was destroyed by fire. 1
Transcript of How to Read Sanborn Maps in Ephemeral Cities
How to Read Sanborn Maps in Ephemeral Cities
How to Read Sanborn Maps in Ephemeral Cities Background Ephemeral Cities draws on the Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps for historical information. Because they are fire insurance maps, they contain a great deal of historically important material, including information on the types of building materials for the main buildings and for component elements like chimneys, and much more. This information is then listed spatially and chronologically with each map listing the year, area of the city, and the individual footprints of buildings with the proximity to other buildings, to roads, and other geographical information. Reading the Sanborn Maps within Ephemeral Cities The Sanborn Maps can be read in relation to the map key on the next page. Note that the map is color-coded for building material. Using the Sanborn Map Key and Ephemeral Cities, find the building material for the area of Ybor City that burned in 1908.
• First, find the map within Ephemeral Cities. • Open the Ephemeral Cities webpage with a browser: http://www.uflib.ufl.edu/epc/ • Then, on the “Browse by City” view, click on the city name. For this exercise, click on
“Tampa.” • On the next page, select a year. For this exercise, choose 1903. • On the next page, select a region of the city. For this exercise, choose the region that
corresponds to the region of Ybor City that burned in the 1908 fire. • After selecting a region, the next screen shows the full Ephemeral Cities interface. The
interface combines the historical Sanborn Insurance Maps with other historical information from City Directories and government publications.
• Finally, use the mapped or search interface to find the burned area. Examine that area to find out what businesses burned and what building materials that had been built with.
A map of the area burnt in Ybor City is online within the Florida Ephemera collection (http://www.uflib.ufl.edu/UFDC/?s=flep&b=SF70000194), but other resources also list the area that was destroyed by fire.
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How to Read Sanborn Maps in Ephemeral Cities
Activity After locating the area that burned in the fire of 1908 and finding the building materials that were in use, discuss your findings in groups using the following questions as prompts.
• What building materials had been in use? • How many of the buildings had chimneys or other clear indicators of fires or flammable
materials in use? • Are there any ice factories in the area? How was ice produced and could that have been
a factor in the fires or insurance coding? • What other elements are on the map that may have led to the fire or blocked its spread? • What other information do these historical maps point to or explain?
Additional Resources The University of Virginia has an excellent guide to reading Sanborn Maps: http://fisher.lib.virginia.edu/collections/maps/sanborn/symbols.html
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How to Read Sanborn Maps in Ephemeral Cities
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How to Read Sanborn Maps in Ephemeral Cities
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