Back in the early days of fire insurance, when you wanted to insure a building, the insurance company would send a underwriter to view the building and gain a first hand appreciation of the risk. As cities began to expand at the turn of the century, this became less practical and a new solution came in to widespread usage: fire insurance maps.
These were detailed maps showing each and every building (including outbuildings and sheds), which are colour coded to show the construction of the buildings, and are often labeled with the use of the buildings. These maps allowed underwriters to gain an understanding of the fire risk for any building without leaving their desks.
The maps were updated regularly, either by issuing a new collection, or by providing ‘correction slips’ which employees of the map maker would visit insurance companies to paste over the areas of the maps that required updates. These maps were widely used in the property insurance industry until the 1960s.
I first encountered these maps in Winnipeg, where an rogue archivist uploaded a bunch of 1950s-era fire insurance maps to Flickr. I find them fascinating reading since they provide a detailed view of what neighbourhoods were like in the past. You can see all the different stores on a street or the various sections of industrial buildings in great detail. In lieu of time travel, this is a great way to explore and experience the past.
This week, I discovered that Library and Archives Canada has fire insurance maps for Calgary on their website circa 1913. If you want to see how the city of Calgary looked over 110 years ago, and I know that I do, check out the links below and spend some time scrolling through the maps.
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