Petersburg (Va.) Sanborn Fire Insurance Company Maps, 1903

Access and use

Location of collection:
Library of Virginia
The Library of Virginia
800 East Broad Street
Richmond, VA 23219
Contact for questions and access:
POC: Archives Reference Services
Phone: (804) 692-3888
Restrictions:

There are no restrictions.

Terms of access:

Use microfilm copy, Petersburg (Va.) Reel 124

Preferred citation:

Petersburg (Va.) Sanborn Fire Insurance Company Maps, 1903. Local government records collection, Petersburg (City) Court Records. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia 23219.

Summary

Creator:
Petersburg (Va.) Circuit Court.
Language:
English
Preferred citation:

Petersburg (Va.) Sanborn Fire Insurance Company Maps, 1903. Local government records collection, Petersburg (City) Court Records. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia 23219.

Background

Scope and content:

Petersburg (Va.) Sanborn Fire Insurance Company Maps, 1903, are one volume of the Sanborn maps issued for the city of Petersburg for the year 1903.The maps are plans showing the fire insurance risks of buildings in the city and identify commercial, industrial, and residential sections. They show color-coded building construction material, locations of windows and doors, roof type, street widths and names, water facilities, proximity to fire stations, population size, and a coded key to symbols. Oriented with north toward the upper right. Includes index and location map. One sheet is missing half and a section has been cut from the remaining half.

Biographical / historical:

Petersburg was formed from parts of Dinwiddie, Prince George, and Chesterfield Counties. It was established in 1748 and incorporated as a town in 1784. In the latter years the towns of Blandford, Pocahontas, and Ravenscroft were added to Petersburg. It was incorporated as a city in 1850.

The Sanborn Map Company was founded by D. A. Sanborn, a surveyor from Massachusetts, in 1866. The maps allowed fire insurance underwriters and policy holders to more accurately protect the risks of business even if a building was not able to be inspected in person and to prevent an insurance premium from being set too low or high. Aside from fire insurance companies, the Sanborn Maps are useful to people involved in government, business, engineering, health and sanitation, planning and zoning, public works, tax assessment, education, highway development, public libraries, architects, geographers, environmentalists, water works, banking, mortgages, and life insurance, utilities and many other professional industries. Sanborn Maps also serve as historical documents for cities and towns and are important to those involved in social history, local history, architectural history, genealogy, urban studies, and preservation. The detail provided by the Sanborn Maps about each city in terms of its physical make-up, as well as the infrastructure of each city or town, provides important insights into a locality for professionals of all sorts.

Acquisition information:
This item came to the Library of Virginia in a transfer of court papers from the city of Petersburg under the accession number 43614. The microfilm was generated by the Library of Virginia's Imaging Services Branch.
Physical location:
State Records Center - Archives Annex, Library of Virginia
Physical description:
1 v.