Map old west city

[bandit86]

Found this on my save pictures and thought some might be interested. Not sure if it's been posted before


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Tombstone_fire_insurance_map_1888.jpg

[Cory]

Those Sanborn maps are nice - in addition to what the building is used for they tell you the number of stories, siding, and what the roof is made of.

[Heisler]

That's a Sanborn Fire Insurance map. The Sanborn company went out and surveyed larger towns/cities and then sold the maps to insurance companies. They are still in business today. The maps from the Wild West period can be found at local libraries, and universities and there are a number of online resources as well. For instance the University of Colorado has virtually all of the Sanborn maps for Colorado available online up to about 1910/1920 and anyone can access them: http://libcudl.colorado.edu/sanborn/index.asp
Where as the Sanborn maps for California, also available through a number of the universities, are jealously guarded and only students and faculty members can access them online, although they do allow onsite visitors. The maps are also available at the Los Angeles City Library (but not the Los Angeles County Library). I was lucky enough to be in a hotel right next door to the LA Library and was able to get a bunch of maps for a railroad project.

The maps contain information on size (including if there are multiple stories) and building materials. If there are railroad tracks in the area those will also be shown, although they are not always accurate as this was not considered an important feature for insurance purposes. Its neat to see how a town or a section of a town developed when you can find maps spanning multiple years.

[Thargor]

Thanks for these.  Certainly gives inspiration for what goes where in Beaverlick, my Old West town.

[Sangennaru]

man, that map is stunning! and all of those sandborn i could find online!


Maybe i should open a new topic but: anyone can address me to other maps like this? Once i found a very nice Atlantic City map, probably of the 30s...

[Cory]

Most Sanborn maps have not been made public in an electronic format and even fewer are preserved in color like the excellent examples bandit86 put up- Sangennaru is there a particular place you are looking for?

Also be sure to search for Panorama maps to compare with the Sanborn - I posted an example on my blog this summer. http://missoulawargaming.blogspot.com/search/label/Old%20West

[d phipps]

Sweet! THANKS for sharing.

[Heisler]

man, that map is stunning! and all of those sandborn i could find online!


Maybe i should open a new topic but: anyone can address me to other maps like this? Once i found a very nice Atlantic City map, probably of the 30s...

Definitely give us more information so we can focus the search better. Not every town in the US had a Sanborn map of it. Some states and universities are more willing to share than others, these can also be found in the Library of Congress but very few examples have been digitized. At one point there was an ongoing project to digitize and make available all of the Sanborn maps but they ran into copyright issues. I think the 1930s is about the latest time period you are going to find. Libraries and Universities that don't share access do it because they pay a subscription fee to Sanborn (or who ever owns Sanborn now) to access later additions of the maps.

So if you need something we need more information because it may not be out there. The Panorama maps are interesting but again you aren't going to find those all the time either, but they are very useful when you do find them.

[FifteensAway]

I have a very similar map I purchased in Bodie, Ca.  Very useful in laying things out.  In general, if your source town is real and historic and there is a state park there, you might try contacting them to see if they have maps or other useful images.

Cory,

Love that panaromic view.  I've heard them called 'isometric' (don't know why).  Again, a lot of times you can find similar touristy images of places (not as accurate, of course, and likely to include unwanted contemporary places - like where to buy candy.

And don't forget to check out the online stores for National Parks, all sorts of goodies to be found - books, maps, etc.

[Sangennaru]

So if you need something we need more information because it may not be out there. The Panorama maps are interesting but again you aren't going to find those all the time either, but they are very useful when you do find them.

actually, i don't need a map in particular. Just wondering if there are some good repositories of detailed maps of the last centuries!

quite some time ago i found an interesting site with TONS of german maps of the 18th and 19th century, but now i'm having hard times finding it.

Another thing i found (and now lost) is another repository of military maps (1:5000 or 1:7500, i think) from germany as well, and another for UK, similar to the USGS site for america's maps.

All those are GREAT for gdr, you can set your gaming everywhere around the globe with detailed and stylish maps. Lot of atmosphere!!!