Friday, April 23, 2010

The Value of Non-Traditional Resources - Fire Insurance Maps

Even if you don't have ancestry in Sacramento, a brief article on Examiner.com, "Fire insurance maps are useful in Sacramento genealogy research, " has merit for pointing out the value of non-tradtional sources in genealogical research. Did you know, in fact,  that "Fire Insurance maps were originally created in the 19th century in the United States for assessing fire insurance liability in urbanized areas. You can find out the names of the people that owned the house and land at different dates." A history of Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps on the UC Berkley Library website tells us more about them, and an article on Ancestry.com, "Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps," suggests how the maps can be used. 

Indeed, insurance records of all types, and particularly claims records can tell a lot.  Insurance records is one of the categories in the GenealogyToday.com Subscription Data, specializing in non-traditional sources. To see what is currently available, see the Table of Contents - Insurance Records.

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