Data For Exploration Data packages Sanborn Maps Data Package

Sanborn Maps Data Package

The dataset contains metadata records for 50,600 maps from the Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps collection and their corresponding 440,048 images . The Sanborn collection at Library of Congress includes over fifty thousand editions of fire insurance maps comprising almost seven hundred thousand individual sheets. The Library of Congress holdings represent the largest extant collection of maps produced by the Sanborn Map Company.

An index map of an insurance map of Amarillo, Texas containing an index of maps as a table of text underneath a color-coded and numbered map with streets and building numbers. — Image 1 of Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from Amarillo, Potter County, Texas.

About this dataset

This dataset was created as part of an LC Labs experiment in collaboration with AVP to understand the benefits, risks, quality benchmarks, workflows, compilation methods, transformations, and documentation practices required to assemble datasets for public use in the cloud. The dataset was completed with support from the Geography and Map Division.

The target audiences of this dataset are users who want to explore spatial or temporal aspects of a collection, plot data on a map or timeline, or navigate or explore data by time or place.

The dataset contains metadata records for 50,600 maps from the Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps collection and their corresponding 440,048 images . These records are included in CSV and JSON formats.

The dataset is organized by atlas, with each row (CSV) or JSON object representing a single atlas from the collection. Each atlas may represent one or more locations, and is geocoded to a single primary location, usually at the city level.

View source collection Browse collection items

Metadata	Metadata formats	Data files
50,600 records	.csv, .json	440,048 .jpg images

Data package documentation

Included in this data package is comprehensive documentation of source data or collection provenance, the contents of the data package, and how the data package was created. Here are some particular sections of interest as well as a link to the full documentation:

View the documentation

Dataset at a glance

How to access and use this data package

There are two main options for accessing and using this data package: (1) Directly downloading files from this page and (2) using Python for more advanced usage.

Direct downloads

The following list outlines the contents of this data package. Many of the individual files inside the data package are linked directly on this page which you can download and immediately use. Zipped files are available for bulk download of the entire or parts of the data package.

Sample the data	sample-data.zip (237.1 MB) - 100 randomly selected items from the 50,600 item set and their corresponding 828 image files have been provided as sample data. Included with this are a metadata.csv, metadata.json, and manifest.json. sample-data/metadata.json (167.5 KB) - A JSON file containing the metadata for the 100 sample items sample-data/metadata.csv (109.2 KB) - A CSV transformation of the sample JSON metadata sample-data/manifest.html - For downloading individual images, this is a simple page that lists each image's file id, item id, MD5 hash (base64), file size, and URL sample-data/manifest.json (167.5 KB) - A JSON file listing each image file id, their item id, MD5 hash (base64), file size, and URL
Download the documentation	README.html - An overview of the source data or collection provenance, the contents of the data package, and how the data package was created. README.md (34.5 KB) - README as a Markdown text file README.pdf (38.3 KB) - README as a PDF file
Download the metadata	metadata.json (126.0 MB) - A JSON file containing the metadata for all 50,600 items metadata.jsonl (82.4 MB) - A JSON lines version of the JSON data, with one record per line, useful for processing large files metadata.csv (64.8 MB) - A CSV transformation of the original JSON metadata maps-by-state/metadata.html - Metadata files are also available by state or region. README.html#dataset-field-descriptions - Metadata field descriptions
Download the images	maps-by-state/index.html - Due to the large number of images, image downloads are available as zipped folders by state or region. Each zipped file contains images from that state or region, its metadata files, and its manifest files. For other bulk downloads options, refer to the following Using Python section . manifest.txt (82.4 MB) - A text file listing each image file id, their item id, MD5 hash (base64), file size, and URL manifest.json (88.2 MB) - A JSON file listing each image file id, their item id, MD5 hash (base64), file size, and URL

Using Python

While direct downloads are more convenient for most activities, users with familiarity with writing Python can perform more advanced and complex tasks programmatically.

For your convenience we developed a number of Jupyter Notebooks to help get you started.

View the Python notebook for this data package

Bulk downloads using Python

For bulk downloads, refer to this Python script for downloading files in bulk . Sample commands for this data package:

Download all map image files by state "Arizona"


                        python bulk_download.py --package
                        "https://data.labs.loc.gov/sanborn/maps-by-state/Arizona/" --out
                        "output/sanborn-Arizona/"

Download all map image files by state "California"


                        python bulk_download.py --package
                        "https://data.labs.loc.gov/sanborn/maps-by-state/California/" --out
                        "output/sanborn-California/"

Download all map image files by state "Texas"


                        python bulk_download.py --package
                        "https://data.labs.loc.gov/sanborn/maps-by-state/Texas/" --out
                        "output/sanborn-Texas/"

Dataset details

Source collection	Sanborn Maps collection The Sanborn collection at Library of Congress includes over fifty thousand editions of fire insurance maps comprising almost seven hundred thousand individual sheets. The Library of Congress holdings represent the largest extant collection of maps produced by the Sanborn Map Company. The majority of the maps were acquired through copyright deposit, but the collection was substantially enriched in 1967 when the Bureau of the Census transferred its sizeable collection to the Library. These additional maps had been used in the field, often for decades, and include updates in the form of printed, paste-on corrections from the Sanborn Map Company. Smaller numbers of Sanborn atlases have been acquired through purchase or donation.
Rights statement	The content of the Library of Congress online Sanborn Maps Collection is in the public domain and is free to use and reuse. For more information, see https://www.loc.gov/collections/sanborn-maps/about-this-collection/rights-and-access/ .
Date created	2023-05-05
Date updated	2024-04-09
Creators & contributors	Creator: AVP Contributors: LC Labs Geography and Map Division
Cite this dataset	Chicago citation style: Library Of Congress. Sanborn Maps Data Package. [Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress, 2023] Software, E-Resource. https://data.labs.loc.gov/sanborn/. APA citation style: Library Of Congress. (2023) Sanborn Maps Data Package. [Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress] [Software, E-Resource] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://data.labs.loc.gov/sanborn/. MLA citation style: Library Of Congress. Sanborn Maps Data Package. [Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress, 2023] Software, E-Resource. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, </data.labs.loc.gov/sanborn/>.
Curatorial questions	For curatorial questions about the content of the collection or technical questions about the dataset formats and composition, please contact the Geography and Map Division via the Library's Ask a Librarian service at https://ask.loc.gov/map-geography .
Access questions	For questions and technical issues about download and access, please submit a ticket on Github or email the LC Labs Team at [email protected] .