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Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps

Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps are detailed large-scale maps created from the 1860s through 1950s that show individual buildings, construction materials, street layouts, and fire protection features in American cities and towns.

These maps can help you:

  • Determine what buildings existed at specific addresses across different time periods

  • Track changes to structures and neighborhoods over decades

  • Identify former business locations and building ages

  • Connect people and businesses to specific places when used with city directories

Jefferson County Public Library has physical maps for Madison for the following years:

  • 1886

  • 1892

  • 1897

  • 1904

  • 1911

  • 1927 (with additions to 1943 and 1948).

High-resolution digital versions are available from the Library of Congress for all of the above years except 1927.