🕰️ The Sanborn Fire Insurance Map Time Machine

🕰️ The Sanborn Fire Insurance Map Time Machine

🕰️ The Sanborn Fire Insurance Map Time Machine
(and why the little “Key” box is the key to unlocking your town’s past)

Sanborn Fire Insurance maps are basically time travel on a sheet of paper. One glance and you’re back on Main Street a century ago—Fire Stations, Dr Offices, Storefronts, Houses and even see what buildings were made of. And the secret decoder ring? That tiny “KEY” box printed on the map. Learn a few symbols and suddenly the whole sheet talks.

Click Here To Find Your Hometown!

🔑 Read the key, unlock the map

Colors (super fast):

  • 🟨 Yellow = wood frame (most houses)
  • 🟥 Red = brick (downtown shops, sturdier buildings)
  • 🟦 Blue = stone (churches, banks, public buildings)
    (Legends vary a bit by year/city, but these three carry you far.)

The small “X” on a roof

  • An small X in the corner of a building usually means shingle roof.
  • You might also see other roof marks (small circles/notes) for composition or slate/tin—the legend spells it out for that edition.

The numbers (the ones everyone asks about)

  • Big number inside the footprint = number of stories (e.g., 1, 2, 2½).
  • Numbers along the walls = dimensions in feet (often width × depth, like 25 × 60).
  • Small curbside numbers = street addresses.
  • Lot/block numbers float in open parcel space and tie back to plats (not the building itself).

A few quick labels you’ll spot a lot

  • D.= Dwelling (a house)
  • Gen'l = General store or shop
  • Ven'd = Veneered building (wood structure but brick or stone front for looks!) 
  • Vac. = Vacant (at the time)
  • DG = Dry goods (another store but usually for textiles or non perishable things)
  • BL SM = Black Smith 
  • Mill'y =  Millinery (I bet you didn't think that was a women's hat store, but it it is!)

And what’s a “livery”?  (All those buildings with a big "X" thru them)

A livery or livery stable was the 1890s version of a car lot + parking garage + rideshare hub. You could board a horse, rent a horse/buggy, get animals fed/shod, and sometimes hire a driver. On Sanborn Maps it’s a great clue to where the town’s traffic (pre-car!) clustered.

🔍 Why Sanborn beats state/county maps for the close-up

State and county maps are awesome for big-picture context—roads, rivers, town locations.
Sanborn's zoom all the way in to YOUR block: building footprints, materials, story counts, addresses, and business uses. If you want to find your house or family shop, Sanborn is the microscope.

🗺️ How to use your one-sheet time machine

We display one representative sheet per town so it’s clean and frame-ready. Start with street names and corner shapes. Match your building’s outline and the color (wood/brick/stone). Boom—you’ve found your house or maybe the old family shop.

Need a specific street or landmark? Many towns have multiple sheets. We show only one to keep things tidy—email us with the town + location and we’ll help you find the exact page.

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❤️ Why people love these

They look awesome framed, sure. But they also tell little stories: who built in wood vs. brick, where businesses clustered, how a rail line shaped the neighborhood. It’s history you can point to—“this was our block,” “that was Grandpa’s shop.”

➡️ Ready to time-travel?
Search your town, pick a year, and see what was standing where your life happens now. If you spot something fun—an old hotel, a long-gone depot, or your great-grandparents’ place—send us a note. Thanks for preserving the past, one map at a time with us!

Click Here To Find Your Hometown!

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