This page includes ideas for using Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps in your library developed by the Accidental Map Librarian Workshop participants and presenters and links to creative ides we found on the web. We hope you add your own ideas or real-life examples of how you use Sanborns in your library or classroom!

What are Sanborn Maps:

• Presentation from Accidental Map Librarian Workshop mixon_sanborn_compressed.ppt (by Geneva Mixon)

   

• Presentation from NCPH Conference on beths sanborn map presentation.ppt (by Beth Filar Williams)

• Compare past and current cities from maps.
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Resources:

• MIT Open CourseWare: a database of free MIT course materials. Search for "sanborn" to access some fabulous resources! 

• A Road Map to Our Town, by Anna Moyer, a lesson plan for 8th graders. Seems to have been developed during a class taught by Professor Susan Hardwick at the University of Oregon.

• A Walk Down Mainstreet: Exploring Your Local Community, a lesson developed by Pat Gore at Greenwood Elementary in Independence, MO. Hosted by the Missouri Geographic Alliance.
• Pictures of Sanborn Maps on Flickr 

Historic Preservation Uses of Sanborn maps:

• Using Sanborn maps to research old buildings, from the Wisconsin Historical Society