Matthew wrote >>
Can anyone tell me how to access the Sanborn maps? I remember doing so from CU a while back but the thread doesn't show up when I search for it.
You have to sign into the Columbus Metropolitan Library website to use them.
Couple of tricks to using Sanborn maps. The find function can help you find the location your are looking for (the descriptions are usually accurate) HOWEVER using the online maps can be time consuming, and it helps to know how the originals worked.
When you get to the site, there will be a list of literally THOUSANDS of map pages. Each page is a scan of one 18" x 30" page from a bound atlas. There is a set of maps from the 1870s, the 1890s, 1910s, 1920s, and 1950s. The pages are arranged by year, and then sequenced by page number. Later years have multiple volumes.
The maps were originally bound atlases with an index page at the front of the book. The index page shows an overview map of Columbus, and has bold numbers scattered across the overview map. The bold numbers are page numbers. The computer will list the individual scans in numeric page order.
So if you consult the index page, and you know that you are looking for the corner of Rich and Fourth on page 40, you will have to scroll down approximately 40 entries to get to the appropriate page. The descriptions can also help identify the appropriate page at this point.
Once you have opened the electronic version of the page, you can find the page number for the maps at the upper right or upper left hand corner of the page when you open the document, just like a scanned book.
The later years come in volumes (sometimes 4 or 5 volumes). The page descriptions will give you the year and the volume.
I highly recommend that you consult the index pages as you would a paper atlas. It really helps orient you. There will be an index at the beginning of each year, and each volume of each year.
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