The Sanborn National Insurance Diagram Bureau created maps used for fire insurance assessment from 1876 until after World War II, when other assessment instruments became more popular. The areas that were targeted for documentation were areas urbanizing around the late 1800s. Sanborn Maps, as they are known, hold a vast amount of information for historical researchers including building shape, name, use, building material, property boundaries and information about sidewalk and road width and location. The villages of Bellows Falls and Saxtons River are documented in these PDF files of the original maps.
To access the Sanborne Maps, please contact the library by phone at 802.463.4270 or email reference@rockinghamlibrary.org.
