Sanborn Maps

Genealogy tip for today:
 

 

Sanborn Maps

 

Genealogy Tip for today:  Maps are something you don’t necessarily think of as being important for genealogy research. But they do tell a story. They give a picture of a geographical area at the time of publication. Given that, old maps are of great significance, some more than others.  

A set of the most popular maps for genealogy research are the Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps. Digital Sanborn 1867-1970 website says this – “A Visual Expression of History. Produced for over a century, more than 660,000 Sanborn maps chart the growth and development of more than 12,000 American towns and cities. Sanborn maps are large-=scale plans of a city or town, drawn at a scale of 50 feet to an inch. They were created to assist fire insurance companies as they assessed the risk associated with insuring a particular property, the maps list street blocks and building numbers including numbers in use at the time the map was made and previous numbers.” 

Problem is they are hard to track down. The older ones are in the public domain, but that doesn’t totally help any. Several places have them, or have access to the ones that pertain to a given state. The difficulty is in the access. Library of Congress has them. Many public libraries have them. Proquest has them. Even the above mentioned website, Digital Sanborn, has them. But you have to have a library card, a subscription, a ‘username and password’ to get in. One site I found requires a username and password but doesn’t tell you how to get one.  

A site that seemed to be the most helpful was the Geo-search site. It lists many places that have these maps. For Arkansas, the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville’s library has Sanborn maps for Arkansas in their list of databases. If you are reading this outside of Arkansas, look at your state’s university’s library website and see if they have Sanborn maps for you state.  

It may be a little bit of a job to track down these maps, but once you figure out where you can get access, it will be worth your research of those maps. If you know of a library that has Proquest, they too, have access to the Sanborn Maps. They’re out there! But it’s like a Treasure Hunt to find them.

 

 

Today in History

Marathon Man

490   Athenian and Plataean Hoplites commanded by General Miltiades drive back a Persian invasion force under General Datis at Marathon.

1213 Simon de Montfort defeats Raymond of Toulouse and Peter II of Aragon at Muret, France.

1609 Henry Hudson sails into what is now New York Harbor aboard his sloop Half Moon.

1662 Governor Berkley of Virginia is denied his attempts to repeal the Navigation Acts.

1683 A combined Austrian and Polish army defeats the Turks at Kahlenberg and lifts the siege on Vienna, Austria.

1722 The Treaty of St. Petersburg puts an end to the Russo-Persian War.

1786 Despite his failed efforts to suppress the American Revolution, Lord Cornwallis is appointed governor general of India.

1836 Mexican authorities crush the revolt which broke out on August 25.

1918 British troops retake Havincourt, Moeuvres, and Trescault along the Western Front.

1919 Adolf Hitler joins German Worker's Party.

1939 In response to the invasion of Poland, the French Army advances into Germany. On this day they reach their furthest penetration-five miles.

1940 Italian forces begin an offensive into Egypt from Libya.

Cave Paintings in Lascaux Caves

1940 The Lascaux Caves in France, with their prehistoric wall paintings, are discovered.

1944 American troops fight their way into Germany.

1945 French troops land in Indochina.

1969 President Richard Nixon orders a resumption in bombing North Vietnam.

1977 Steve Biko, a South African activist opposing apartheid, dies while in police custody.

1980 Military coup in Turkey.

1990 East and West Germany, along with the UK, US and USSR—the Allied nations that had occupied post-WWII Germany—sign the final settlement for reunification of Germany.

1992 Space Shuttle Endeavor takes off on NASA's 50th shuttle mission; its crew includes the first African-American woman in space, the first married couple, and the first Japanese citizen to fly in a US spacecraft.

2003 UN lifts sanctions against Libya in exchange for that country accepting responsibility for the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 in 1988 and paying recompense to victims' families.

2007 Joseph Estrada, former president of the Philippines, is convicted of plunder.

2011 In New York City, the 9/11 Memorial Museum opens to the public.

 

Birthdays today:

Richard Hoe

1812 Richard March Hoe, who built the first successful rotary printing press.

1829 Charles Dudley Warner, essayist and novelist who, with Mark Twain, wrote The Guilded Age.

1880 H.L. Mencken, journalist and iconoclast known as the "Sage of Baltimore."

1888 Maurice Chevalier, singer, dancer and actor.

1892 Alfred A. Knopf, American publisher.

1910 Alexander D. Langmuir, epidemiologist, created and led the U.S. Epidemic Intelligence Service.

Jesse Owens

1913 Jesse Owens, track and field athlete who won four medals at the Berlin Olympics  in 1936.

1931 Kristin Hunter, author (God Bless the Child, The Survivors)

1931 George Jones, country singer

George Jones

1943 Michael Ondaatje, Canadian novelist and poet (The English Patient).

1949 Charles "Chic" Burlingame III, pilot of American Airlines Flight 77, that was high-jacked and flown into the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001, by terrorists.

1956 Brian Robertson, singer, songwriter, musician (Thin Lizzy, Motorhead, Wild Horses bands).

1956 Richard "Ricky" Rudd, known as the "Iron Man" of NASCAR racing; he holds the record for the most consecutive NASCAR starts.

1981 Jennifer Hudson, singer, actress; numerous awards include a Grammy (Jennifer Hudson, 2008), and Oscar, Golden Globe and British Academy awards (Dreamgirls, 2006).

Word for the day:  

protege

PRONUNCIATION:

(PRO-tuh-zhay, pro-tuh-ZHAY)

MEANING:

noun: One who is protected, guided, and supported by somebody older and more experienced.

ETYMOLOGY:

From French protégé, past participle of protéger (to protect), from Latin protegere, from pro- + tegere (cover). Ultimately from Indo-European root (s)teg- (to cover), which is the ancestor of other words such as tile, thatch, protect, detect, and toga. Earliest documented use: 1786.

USAGE:

"'I'm proud of him,' Big Tigger says of his protege."
Chris Richards; Peter Rosenberg; The Washington Post; May 31, 2013.

 

Quote for the day:

It is a glorious thing to be indifferent to suffering, but only to one's own suffering. -Robert Lynd, writer (1879-1949)

 

Today’s Recipe

Super Moist Roasted Turkey

 

Ingredients

  10- to 12-lb. fresh whole turkey or frozen whole turkey, thawed
  1 cup Mayonnaise
  1 large shallot or onion, chopped
  1 Tbp. chopped fresh rosemary, sage and/or thyme*
1 envelope Roasted Turkey gravy mix, prepared according to package directions

Total Time

3 hr 35 min

 

Servings

8 servings 8

 

Preparation

Preheat oven to 425°. Remove giblets from turkey cavities and rinse turkey inside and out; pat dry with paper towels. Season, if desired, with salt and freshly ground black pepper; set aside.

Combine Hellmann's® or Best Foods® Real Mayonnaise, shallot and herbs in medium bowl; set aside. Starting at neck opening, gently loosen skin on turkey and evenly spread 1/2 of the mayonnaise mixture under skin. Tie legs together with kitchen string.

Arrange turkey, breast side up, in large shallow roasting pan with rack; rub remaining mayonnaise mixture over outside of turkey. Tent with heavy-duty aluminum foil. Decrease oven to 325° and roast turkey 1-1/2 hours. Remove foil and continue roasting, about 1 hour, basting occasionally with pan juices, until thermometer inserted in thickest part of the thigh reaches 165°. Let stand covered loosely with foil 20 minutes before carving. Serve with hot Roasted Turkey gravy.

 

 

 

ENJOY!

 

Now You Know!