Historic Maps of Jamaica Plain (1884 high resolution)
Maps such as these were produced primarily for the fire insurance industry. They show building footprints and detail such as building material, function, owner, driveways, and street address. Also shown are lot lines, street widths, pipes, railroad lines, and bodies of water. Sanborn, Hopkins, Bromley, Phoenix, and other companies produced fire Insurance maps. The earliest fire insurance map of Boston appeared in 1867.
A number of institutions in the Boston area hold original fire insurance atlases including the Boston Public Library, Harvard Library, MIT Library, The Bostonian Society, The State Library of Massachusetts, and the City of Boston Archives.
The Harvard Library will provide reprints of map pages to the public for a fee. The Boston Public Library also offers a reproduction service. Perhaps the largest collection of fire insurance maps resides in the U.S. Library of Congress. In 1967, shortly after the Sanborn Company discontinued its large-scale map series, the Census Bureau transferred to the Library of Congress 1,840 volumes of Sanborn maps. Together with material acquired through copyright deposit, the Sanborn Fire Insurance Map Collection numbers approximately 700,000 sheets. A List of Geographical Atlases in the Library of Congress (Washington: Library of Congress, 1973. lxxii, 681 p. Z6028.U56, v. 7) describes a partial list of holdings.
The UC Berkeley library web site has an excellent article on Sanborn maps. Another good treatment of Sanborn maps can be found on Wikipedia.
Credits and Acknowledgements
The scanned images on this page were taken from a G.W. Bromley Atlas graciously donated to the Jamaica Plain Historical Society by the estate of Margaret Durfee Mosher. We are greatful to Tom Blake for doing the high resolution scanning work. Production assistance with the street index was kindly provided by Kathleen Hourihan, Jeanette Murphy, Valerie Uber, Laura Kandziolka, Virginia Pittsley, Jan Paulsen, and Paul Walsh.
Plate A
Amory St. Arcadia St. Atherton Pl. Atherton St. Beethoven St. Bowe St. Boylston Pl. Boylston St. Bragdon St. Brunswick Av. Centre St. Chestnut Av. Copley St. Danforth St. Dimock St. Forbes St. Gilbert St. Hoffman St. Houghton Pl. Lamartine St. Notre Dame St. Parker Ct. Paul Gore St. Raymond St. Roys St. School St. Sheridan St. Terrace Av. W. Walnut Pk. Washington St. Wise St. Wyman Pl. Wyman St.
Plate B
Alden Pl. Bismarck St. Boylston Ave. Boylston St. Brookside Ave. Brookside Ave. Byron Ct. Call St. Chauncy Pl. Chemical Ave. Ellsworth Pl. Erie Pl. Forest Hills St. Garfield Ave. Germania St. Glenn Rd. Green St. Greenwood Ave. Jess St. Porter St. Robeson St. School St. School St. Pl. Seaver St. Sigourney St. Union Ave. Walnut Ave. Washington St. Watson Pl. Weld Ave. Williams St. Woodside Ave.
Plate C
A St. Alfred St. Alveston St. Bishop St. Boylston St. Brewer St. Brown Pl. Burr St. Burroughs St. C St. Call St. Carolina Av. Cedar Av. Centre Pl. Centre St. Cheshire St. Chestnut Av. Chestnut Pl. Chestnut Sq. Child St. Clark Ct. Eliot St. Elm St. Enfield St. Everett St. Gordon St. Green St. Greenough Ave. Hagar St. Harris Av. Hathaway St. Hazel St. Holbrook St. J.A. Andrew St. Keyes St. Lamartine Ct. Lamartine Pl. Lamartine St. Larmartine Sq. Lee St. Lester Pl. Maple Pl. Myrtle St. Nelson St. Newbern St. Oakdale St. Park Pl. Pond St. Revere St. Roanoke Av. Rockview St. Seaverns Av. Sedgwick St. South St. Spring La. Spring Park Av. St. Johns St. Starr La. Story Pl. Thomas St. Walker St.
Plate D
Burroughs St. Centre St. Chestnut St. Eliot St. Holbrook St. Lakeville Place May St. Moreland Place Myrtle St. Orchard St. Perkins St. Pond St. Prince St. Rockwood St.
Plate E
Allandale St. Avon St. Bussey St. Centre St. Fairview St. Green Hill Av. Louders La. May St. Mozart Av. Pond St. Rockwood St. Skinner St. South St. Union Av. Walter St. Weld St.
Plate F
Custer St. Forest Hills Ave. Forest Hills St. Hall St. Hathaway St. Hyde Park Ave. Jamaica St. Keyes St. Lee St. Lotus Ave. Lotus Pl. Lotus St. Morton St. Park Pl. South St. Union Terrace Walk Hill St. Washington St. Water St. Williams St. Woodman St.
Plate G
Blakemore St. Bourne St. Brook St. Brown Ave. Florence St. Garden St. Hancock St. Hyde Park Ave. Larch Pl. Pine St. Prospect (Roslin) Ave. South St. Sycamore (Albion) St. Walk Hill Ave. Washington St.
Plate H
Austin St. Autumn St. Back St. Blue Hill Av. Calder St. Canterbury St. Ellicot St. Forest Hills St. Glen Rd. Morton St. Scarborough St. Seaver St. Sigourney St. Walk Hill St. Walnut Av. Williams St.
Plate I
Allen St. Ashland St. Berry St. Blakemore St. Bourne St. Bradstreet Av. Bridge St. Brook St. Brown Av. Canterbury St. Florence St. Folsom St. Hyde Park Av. Lawn St. Mt. Hope Av. Neponset Av. Newbern Av. Paine St. Peters St. Rowe St. Spruce St. Walk Hill St. Weber St.
Plate J
Albion St. Ashland St. Ashland St. Augustus Ave. Beech St. Brown Ave. Canterbury St. Charles St. Clarendon Ave. Clarendon Ave. Clarendon Park Clifford St. Crew Ave. Cross St. Dale St. Eldredge St. Farrington St. Hancock St. Hautevale St. Hillburn St. Hillside Ave. Huntington Ave. Hyde Park Ave. James St. Kittredge St. Mansur St. Metropolitan Ave. Newbern Ave. Perkins St. Poplar St. Prospect Ave. Richardson St. Rockland St. Roslin Ave. Roslin Ave. Rowe St. Sharon St. Sheldon St. Summit St. Sycamore St.
Plate K
Albano St. Alder St. Amherst (Cottage) St. Ashland St. Atherton Ave. Auburn St. Beech St. Bellevue Ave. Berry St. Birch (Maple) St. Brandon (Williams) St. Brook St. Cedar St. Central Ave. Clifton St. Corinth St. Cottage St. Cypress Dedham Branch Dudley Ave. Farrington St. Florence St. Hawthorne St. Hemlock St. Hill St. Kittredge St. Linden St. Metropolitan Ave. Mozart Ave. Norfolk St. Orange St. Poplar St. Rail Rd. Rockland St. Roslindale Ave. Salem St. South St. Sycamore St. Taft Ct. Taft Pl Union Ave. Walter St. Washington St. West St.
Plate L
Adelaide Terr. Bellevue Pk. Bellevue St. Centre St. German St. Grove St. High St. Lagrange St. Lark St. Martin St. Park St. Robin St. Rockland St. Short St. Washington St. Wren St.
Plate M
Allen St. Anawan St. Beech St. Bellevue St. Centre St. Clement Ave. Corey St. Farrington Ave. Garden St. Garfield Ave. Hildreth Ave. Irving St. LaGrange St. Linnet St. Maple St. March Ave. Martin St. Mt. Vernon St. Oak St. Oriole St. Park St. Pelton St. Pleasant St. Rail Road Ave. Rutledge St. Short St. Walnut Ave. Weld St. Willow St. Wren St.
Plate N
Alaric St. Ashland St. Autumn St. Baker St. Ballinakill Ave. Cass St. Centre St. Cottage Pl. Dent St. Elm St. Gardner St. Hart St. Ivory St. Jordan St. LaGrange St. Marshall St. Perham St. Pleasant St. Powell St. Prospect St. Spring St. Springville Ave. Summer St. Temple St. Winslow St.
Plate O
Baker Pl. Baker St. Belle Ave. Centre St. Charles St. Clarence St. Cypress St. Franklin Ave. Gardner St. Hamilton St. Linden St. Montgomery St. Moreland St. Pleasant St. Prospect St. Spring St. Walnut St. Washington Ave. Webster St.
Plate P
Adams St. Baker St. Corey St. Dent St. East St. Gardner St. Garfield St. High St. LaGrange St. Morrison St. Mt. Vernon St. Perham St. Temple St. Weld St. West St.
Plate Q
Anawan Av. Arnold St. Beech St. Central St. Centre St. Church St. South St. Weld St. Willow St.