Fire Insurance Maps and Plans
1835-1968
Bulk Dates 1905-1968
3 linear feet
(1 box, 1 oversize box)
Processed by Alyse Hennig
June 2012
Inset of a key to map symbols, Underwriters’ Map Association, 1920
Kathryn and Shelby Cullom Davis Library
Archives and Special Collections
2
An appointment is necessary to use this collection. Please review the library’s access and membership policies. Access to certain materials may be restricted at the discretion of the library due to preservation concerns.
Preferred Citation
Fire Insurance Maps and Plans Collection. Kathryn and Shelby Cullom Davis Library, St. John’s University.
Copyright
Materials may be subject to copyright restrictions. It is the responsibility of the researcher to request permission from the copyright holder for further reproduction.
Scope and Content
This collection is comprised of books and pamphlets, maps, map keys, plan drawings, clippings,
correspondence, and lectures, all related to the construction and use of fire insurance maps and plans, as well as famous conflagrations. A portion of the materials is related to the construction of and fire safety prevention for a standard cotton mill. In addition, there are several early lectures on fire insurance maps and plans.
Processing Note
File F847 (Fire Insurance Maps) was removed from the vertical file in May 2012.
Subject Terms
Conflagrations. Cotton Mills. Fire insurance maps. Lectures.
Pamphlets.
Sanborn Map Company. Standard cotton mill
Organization
The collection is organized into 4 series:
Series 1 – Books and Pamphlets Series 2 – Lectures
Lectures – Insurance Society of New York Lectures – Various
Series 3 – Clippings and Correspondence Series 4 – Visual Materials
Keys and Plan Notations Maps of Famous Conflagrations
3 Container List
Series 1 – Books and Pamphlets
Box 1
Folder Title Date
1 Draughting Fire Insurance Plans, by L.M. Clement (first edition) c.1930 1 Draughting Fire Insurance Plans, by L.M. Clement c. 1931 2 Plan Drawing, by E. S. Richmond 1924 2 The Fire Insurance Map (Flat Projection): an outline devised for the
use of fire insurance surveyors, by Raymond T. Nelson [2 copies] 1922 3 Notes on Fire Insurance Plan Drawing, by A. Hugh Minchin 1935 3 Plan Drawing for Insurance Examinations, by G. E. Clair c. 1938 3 Morrison Card System of Fire Insurance Maps: Report of Committee
of Companies 1916
3 Fire Insurance Maps: A statement of the Morrison Map System together with the Report of the Committee of the National Board of Fire
Underwriters showing its merits over the present antiquated
and expensive method 1915
4 United States Fire Insurance and Underwriters Maps, 1852-1968, by Walter W. Ristow, Quarterly Journal of the Library of Congress,
Volume 25, Number 3. 1968
5 Plan Drawing Symbols to be used by Examination Candidates, by
Chartered Insurance Institute. c. 1948 5 Drafting -- Fire Insurance Plans. Lecture Outlines, by Gorham Dana,
The Insurance Library Association of Boston. c. 1922 5 Making Wood Fire Retardant, by T. R. Truax, United States
Department of Agriculture Forest Service 1950 5 Why Map? …a full report of an impartial survey and a timely message
of vital concern to Fire Insurance Company Management, by Sanborn
Map Company. 1957
6 Description and Utilization of the Sanborn Map, by Sanborn Map
Company [4 copies] 1940
7 Description and Utilization of the Sanborn Map, by Sanborn Map
Company [5 copies] 1949
8 A Guide to Sound Fire Insurance Underwriting, Report Numbers 1-4, by
Sanborn Map Company c. 1958-1961
Series 2 – Lectures
Insurance Society of New York
Box 1
Folder Description Date
9 Fire insurance plans; address, intermediate fire course, by V. E. Neville March 3, 1925 9 Fire Insurance – Part II #17 [2 copies] March 29, 1932 9 Drafting Fire Insurance Plans – Fire II, Lecture 19 [2 copies] March 9, 1937 9 Drafting Fire Insurance Plans – Fire II Lecture #9 December 6, 1958
4 Various
Box 1
Folder Description Date
10 The Publication of Fire Insurance Maps, by L.L. Buchanan, Delivered to
the Fire Insurance Club of Chicago June 11, 1912 10 Drafting – Fire Insurance Plans, by the Insurance Institute of Hartford
[2 copies] c. 1939
10 Drafting and Fire Insurance Plans, Lecture before the Insurance Institute
of Hartford by Mr. John H. Sheridan and Mr. Martin D. Rumrill 1936/1937 10 Plan Drafting to Scale, Including Plan Notations (lectures), by John S.
Caldwell, The Insurance Library Association of Boston [4 copies] 1914-1915
Series 3 – Clippings and Correspondence
Box 1
Folder Description Date
11 Clippings and Correspondence 1916-1957
Series 4 – Visual Materials Keys and Plan Notations
Box 1
Folder Description Date
12 Key to Plan Notations – Fire Underwriters’ Uniformity Association 1912 12 Key to Plan Notations – Fire Underwriters’ Uniformity Association 1924
[3 copies]
12 Key – Sanborn Map Company [3 copies] c. 1920 12 Plan Notation – Eastern Underwriters Inspection Bureau [2 copies] 1928 12 Key to Signs Etc. Used on Bureau Maps, Circular No. 310, Middle
States Inspection Bureau c. 1929
Series 4 – Visual Materials Keys and Plan Notations
Box 2 (Oversize)
Description Date
Key. This key was used by Sanborn Map Company in 1866 n.d.
Key to symbols used upon maps issued by the Underwriters Map
Association, New York January 1919
Key to symbols used upon maps issued by the Underwriters Map Association,
5 Series 4 – Visual Materials
Maps of Famous Conflagrations
Box 2 (Oversize)
Description Date
Baltimore, MD. Map showing district burned in conflagration of February
7th and 8th, 1904. [fragile] n.d.
Map. “This plan of the City of New York (within the Palisades which were erected in the year 1745) was made for the purpose of shewing the progress and extent of the Great Fire which happened in the year 1776 the number of houses that was consumed. And also the Fire of 1778. Presented to the New
York Historical Society by David Grim.” c. 1866
Clipping. New York, December 23, 1835. “Dreadful Conflagration in New York”. Diagram of the Fire Engraved by Butler & Morse, for the Mercantile
Advertiser & New York Advocate. 1835
Series 4 – Visual Materials
Standard Cotton Mills Plans and Diagrams
Box 2 (Oversize)
Description Date
Standard Cotton Mill Recommended by Factory Insurance Association,
Hartford, Conn. n.d
Standard Cotton Mill Recommended by Factory Insurance Association,
Hartford, Conn. n.d.
Standard Cotton Mill Recommended by Factory Insurance Association,
Hartford, Conn. Revised November 1905. 1905
Standard Cotton Mill Recommended by Factory Insurance Association, Hartford, Conn. Revised November 1905. “Construction – Main Mill”,
“Indicator Post”, “Protection” 1905
Standard Cotton Mill Recommended by Factory Insurance Association,
Hartford, Conn. Revised November 1905. “Tank”. 1905
Cotton Mill Processes. Diagram showing order of processes and number of
laps, slivers, and rovings doubled at each unit, C.B. Langdon, Eng. March 8, 1923
Typical White Goods Cotton Mill. No Scale. C.B. Langdon, Chief Eng. 3-4-24. Diagrammatic layouts of principal parts of machines in spinning process. n.d.