Fire Insurance Plans and Atlases

Fire Insurance Plans and Atlases

Fire insurance atlases and plans were detailed urban maps produced from the 1870s to the 1970s to help insurance companies assess fire risk in rapidly growing North American cities. Atlases cover the city as a whole. Plans cover specific neighbourhoods and often have more detail than atlases. At a time when most buildings were wooden and firefighting techniques were limited, even small fires could devastate entire neighborhoods. Companies like the Charles E. Goad Company in Canada and the Sanborn Company in the United States mapped every building in city centers, using colors and symbols to indicate construction materials, building size, occupancy, and potential hazards.

These plans also recorded street widths, property lines, water mains, fire hydrants, and alarm boxes, allowing insurers to evaluate risks efficiently. Although no longer used for insurance, fire insurance plans are now invaluable historical records. Researchers, heritage planners, environmental scientists, and historians use them to study urban development, reconstruct original building forms, trace socio-economic and demographic changes, and identify potential historical land contamination. Large-scale and highly detailed, they bridge the gap between traditional city maps and architectural plans, serving as precursors to modern urban GIS mapping. In Toronto, Goad began producing comprehensive plans in 1880, with atlases for real estate purposes also published from 1884 onward.

Digital

Paper

Microfiche

English

All out-of-copyright fire insurance plans and atlas plates of Toronto have been digitized and georeferenced (UTM NAD83 Zone 17N), and are available for download.

Toronto Fire Insurance Plans (Volume 1-9): 
Access via ArcGIS Online Data Index 

Toronto Fire Insurance Atlases: 
Access via ArcGIS Online Data Index

For access to Fire Insurance Plans that are not yet available digitally, please contact mdl@library.utoronto.ca. 
Access complete Fire Insurance Plan listing

Geospatial

Plans published or revised more than 90 years ago are considered to be in the public domain and can be used without restriction.

Plans created or revised within the past 90 years may be subject to copyright restrictions and are therefore provided for restricted use only. Permission from the rights holder may be required for reproduction, publication, or distribution beyond fair dealing or other applicable exceptions.

Canada

Ontario

Toronto

North America

FIRE INSURANCE PLANS

TORONTO

URBAN

BUILDINGS

1876 - 1973

UTM NAD83 Zone 17N (for georeferenced plans).