What's the best way to learn about a city's history? Is it through its historic postcards? Perhaps you'd like to read an oral history or two culled from the reminiscences of residents both known and unknown? Some might suggest the historic fire insurance maps created by the Sanborn Company from the University of Vermont Libraries is a great way to start. This collection features maps of...

From Ash Grove to St. Louis, this fine digital collection of Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps from the University of Missouri covers the Show-Me State rather nicely. These maps were used by the fire insurance companies to assess the risk of insuring a particular property, and as such, they are excellent repositories of data for urban historians, planners, architects, and others. The maps show the...