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Available Maps for Blair
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- 1886
(2 maps)
- 1889
(4 maps)
- 1897 (4 maps)
- 1902 (5 maps)
- 1909
(7 maps)
- 1923 (7 maps)
Click on Year
for Links
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Printed and digital (pdf format) copies of the
Sanborn Insurance Maps for Blair have been prepared by the Blair Historic
Preservation Alliance and given to the Blair Public Library and the Washington
County Historic Association. Please visit the reference section of the library
in Blair and/or the museum in Fort Calhoun for further access to these maps. |
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Sanborn
Insurance Maps
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Beginning in the 1880s, Sanborn Insurance Maps, large-scale,
detailed maps showing the size and placement of buildings in every city and town
in the country, including Blair, were prepared every few years for use by fire
insurance underwriters. These maps included information on materials used, the
purpose of the structure, the number of stories, placement of windows and doors,
and the location of lot lines, water pipes, hydrants and cisterns. |
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These fire insurance maps were
produced to show buildings in sufficient detail so that insurance underwriters
who used them could determine risks and establish premiums. They show individual
building "footprints," complete with construction details such as building
material (brick, frame, etc.)... number of stories, location of doors, windows,
chimneys, and sometimes the use of structure (dwelling, hotel, church, etc.)
Other features shown include lot lines, street widths, water pipes, hydrants and
cisterns. The maps usually were drawn at scales of 50 or 100 feet to an inch and
were often were hand colored to code more detailed information about building
materials. [Examples
of colorized maps]
Relatively few insurance maps
made before 1884... have survived.
Today this information is invaluable in tracing the development of business
districts and neighborhoods within a community.
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Example
of Sanborn Map of Downtown Blair, Nebraska
(16th & Washington Streets -- known at that time as
Walker and Washington Street) |
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