Sanborn Insurance Maps

I have seen these and looked up some of the towns where I search. It was interesting to see what types of businesses/buildings were located years ago and what is there today. Definitely has potential to help locate goodies if you use them right.

I had two of these Sanborn atlases from ca.1915 from Martinsburg, WV. The maps themselves are beautiful and I sold both atlases for $600 each. I got them in an auction box lot full of 1890-1920 letterheads, etc. from a lawyer's office. Bought the whole box for $7.00 LOL. They are very detailed as to building type (brick, wood, etc.) and very accurate for town lots. Not sure if they got into rural areas much since they were used by insurance companies to determine fire insurance rates, etc.

They do go into more detail than we would ever need to go digging, but I could see these maps being handy to help see the layout of an old ghost town type of place.

Some public libraries might have these on hand.