A Sanborn First

[diggermeister]

Hey All, I've discoverd what is, for me, a Sanborn first and I have studied a lot of them...
Many believe that Sanborn Maps can be useful in locating Privies. But, until today, I found little evidence of that. Sure there are a lot of little squares on the maps; often containing the number 1 (for a one story building) and an 'X' for a shingled roof. Most likely privies. Most other small buildings will have 'shed' etc. in or next to them.
However you need to check this out (see pic). Proof? that they did know what they were marking. Making me think that the location of those other 'little squares' are worth looking for.
I'd be very interested to know what (if any) success some of you other diggers have had with the Sanborn Maps.

 

[CazDigger]

I have definitely found privies using Sanborns. One of the first privies (a 5ft deep stone-lined) that I dug was on an 1890 Sanborn and had pontiled bottles in the bottom. Usually you hear that privies were only used for 20 years, but not always true. What I have also found that even though 99% of the homes in the 1880s in my area had privies, only about 30% of them were shown on a Sanborn map. Maybe they only showed the ones that were insured???? There is no substitute for probing, but having the maps can sure help a beginner (like I was back then!)
Mark

 

[diggermeister]

Mark, you are right about the use of a good probe!
I guess my point was that this is the first time I've seen the word 'privies' written down. Have you seen this before? Usually there just the smallest squares on the map (?) I'm guessng. I have actually never found a privy using the Maps. But this one gives me some hope. The ones I have found were by hunting and probing.
I suppose your right that the buildings that are shown were likely included on the Fire Insurance Policy.

 

[Brian M]

I have had very good luck using the Sanborn Maps from 1891 for my home town. Some houses don't show privys, but we found them while probing the yard. The most useful thing was knowing if a house was dated 1891 or before, which was useful to know if the lot is worth the trouble to probe.

I have found that if I have good street corner or side walk to measure from, I am able to locate the privy within a couple of feet. At least you can find one privy on the lot using that method. Last summer we found a bunch by marking off the demensions of each lot first, then you go back and start on each lot line and measure to where the map shows the privy. This worked out great one time when the clay was so hard you couldn't probe any where and get the probe down more than two feet. I walked over the spot where the map showed the privy and pounded the probe down through the clay in a couple of spots and found the privy. At least in my town, who ever made the map, they did a good job.

They say X doesn't always mark the spot, but it seems to work for me. I usually look for the small square box out at the back corner of the lot and also look at what the neighbor lots show at the rear of their lots. Usually they will line up in a row along the alley way.

It seems to work.

 

[CazDigger]

I have never seen them marked "privy" before either, but I have seen "WC" for water closet.

 

[tigue710]

never seen marked as so but have dead on the dot located a lot of privy's with the maps...

 

[stumpknocker]

Mike that is a very interesting theory, I just called up the local Sanborn Maps and did see a number of squares with an X on them that may very well be the location of the privy for that year. It will be interesting to put the theory to work. Thank for sharing your newly found discovery.

 

[California Dream N]

I have never seen them labled privies on the Sanborn maps but some in my hometown in California are labled outhouse...Doesn't get any easier then that...

 

[baltbottles]

I haven't seen any in Baltimore that were marked privy or outhouse I mostly use the maps for figuring out the property lines on empty lots.

Chris

 

[CALDIGR2]

The local area Sanborns show privies as little "boxes" in the logical places. They are VERY easy to find and the maps don't lie. Some of the earliest maps from the 1880s don't show "boxes", but as long as the lot lines are there finding privy pits is a piece of cake. All it takes is some diligent probing, with most city lots having numerous pits if the house is more than a few years older than the map. I try my best to stick to pre-1900 pits and leave the later ones for more "desperate" times.