Using Archives and Historical Records

Alison Young

USA TODAY

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Twitter: @alisonannyoung

Using Archives and Historical Records

for Environmental and Land Use Investigations

Sanborn fire insurance maps:Originally created for fire insurance assessment, maps detail property use over time, including construction materials, industrial activities and company names for individual structures.Watch USA TODAY’s video about Sanborn maps at:

• Regional collections of Sanborn maps are often available viewing at university libraries, state and local historical societies or local libraries. Some regional libraries with Sanborn maps:

• Environmental Data Resources, . This company has 1.3 million maps involving 12,000 cities and towns. For a fee, maps can be searched by latitude and longitude.
• Library of Congress. In addition to a large collection of maps, the LOC has great resources on its website for interpreting Sanborns: Keys and Colors to Sanborn maps:

Local fire insurance surveys (ask local archives what may be available in your area)

Hexamer General Surveys (late 1800s):

• Philadelphia:

Barlow Insurance Surveys:

• Example:

Works Progress Administration (WPA) land use maps: These maps describe industrial, commercial, residential and recreational uses for land during the 1930s for certain cities. Some examples:

• Los Angeles:
• Chicago:

Greater Philadelphia GeoHistory Network: Very cool use of historical map overlays in the Philadelphia area.

City Atlases: Maps showing land use and often describing key industrial sites. Some examples: Baltimore:

City directories: Sometimes called “Polk Directories,” these books (now often on microfilm) list residents and businesses in alphabetical order by name, allowing you to potentially find addresses for companies. Sections also allow listing by type of business. Useful in estimating years of operation by years of listing. They also may have listings by address, which not only may give the name of the person/company at the location, but also the individual’s occupation or the name of the company’s manager.

Industry Directories:Look for an annual yearbook or directory of the industry you’re researching to see what categories of products that company listed itself as producing, its locations, etc. By looking at multiple years of directories, it can give some information about the years of operation. Examples include: Standard Metal Directory, American Bureau of Metal Statistics Yearbook.

Building inspection permits: Even if there weren’t environmental regulations, a building permit or inspection may have been required to construct, change or demolish a factory. Records may also include documentation of citizen complaints. These records may be archived with the city or at a library or museum.

City council minutes: May provide records of citizen complaints about pollution. Before environmental agencies were created, some city health departments took on air pollution issues.

Telephone books: Useful in estimating years of operation for companies (based on years listed). Yellow pages listings/ads can provide information about a company’s operations.

Business records: Very old state corporation records may not be available online. Ask how far back the digital collection goes to ensure you’re not missing something.

Aerial photographs: Helpful in seeing what a factory looked like and whether it had smokestacks. Can also be useful in estimating years of operation (or years until building was demolished). Check local research libraries, which often have aerial photos of certain areas of town. Also, U.S. Geological Survey has online aerial photographs, though many are from high altitudes:

Municipal photographs: Cities often took photographs of buildings and streets to illustrate public works improvements – but they may have also captured the location you’re researching in the process. Assessors may have also taken photographs of buildings. The photos may be maintained in government or nonprofit archives. Some examples:Seattle: Philadelphia:

Other photographs and video: Newspaper photographs and other photo collections may have captured the factory you are researching. National Archives “moving images” search, includes downloadable video.

Newspaper “clipping” files:Stories clipped and filed by topic (such as a company’s name), may be kept at libraries or historical societies.

Archived manuscript collections: Libraries may have a wide range of documents about companies that operated in their areas, including annual reports, bylaws, board papers and minutes, and financial records.

Historical societies and preservation organizations: Don’t just call state- or city-level organizations, look for neighborhood groups that may maintain collections – or have a network of people interested in local history who may be helpful in your research.

Other:

• List of state archives:
• Directory of corporate archives:
• DocumentCloud: Great resource for organizing and posting the cool archival documents you dig up.

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