MONT 199N-S12: The Nature of Worcester: Green Island (Luria)

Maps

Sanborn Maps: 

Sanborn maps are insurance maps made by the Sanborn Map Company. They were originally designed to help fire insurance companies decide how at-risk a particular property was for fire, so they contain information about things like what a building was made of, how many floors it had and what kind of windows, what the building was used for, etc.  According to the Library of Congress, the first fire insurance maps started to be produced shortly before the Civil War; Sanborn maps began to be produced in the late 1860s and continued through about the 1960s.  Library of Congress is the best free source for fire insurance maps of Worcester (there are subscription ones; there are also much richer sources for cities like Boston!). We have linked here the pages that you will want to use. 

Sanborn maps were originally published as large atlases, or books of maps. At the front of each atlas was a smaller map of the entire city; the city is divided into numbered sections, corresponding to the pages where you can see the detailed map for that neighborhood. 

Using Sanborn Maps

1. Use the Reference Map that goes with your Sanborn Map (1910 or 1936) to locate the map number(s) for the street(s) you are interested in. 
2. Each individual map page is linked below the Reference Map. 
3. Consult the Key that goes with your Sanborn Map (1910 or 1936) to read the markings and colors on the map. 
4. Make sure to add everything you find to your Research Log! 

Books

In the Library

Books in Dinand about the history of Worcester will be located in the Mezzanine Stacks, roughly between call numbers F69 and F75. Don't forget to check the oversize section! 

Here are some suggestions to get you started: 

Online

Census & Demographics

About the Federal U.S. Census: 

The Federal U.S. Census is taken every 10 years; the first one was taken in 1790. The census is meant to be a count of people living in the U.S. (whether citizens or not). You can find most years online once they have been released (the exception is 1890 -- almost all of this census was destroyed in a fire). The release of detailed census data (the line by line records) operates on a "72 year" rule, meaning that data is released 72 years after the official date of a given census. The next release, of the 1960 census, is scheduled for 2032. 

The Census has changed a lot since 1790, so every year is slightly different: 

• Before 1850, only the (white, male) head of household was listed by name on the census. 
• Before 1930, there was no consistent system for organizing the census geographically. So, one address might appear in different parts of different census years.  The census is not really organized by streets, at least not in a way that is useful for our purposes! 
• The questions tend to change at least slightly every census. 

Using Census Data: 

There are two ways of approaching census data. You can examine the line-by-line records to look for specific individuals, examine the names in specific towns, etc. Or, you can look at the data holistically to consider things like overall population size, demographics, etc. Typically, you would access census data in different ways to accomplish each of these purposes. 

Looking at Data:

Looking at Individual Records: 

Newspapers & Magazines

When to Use Newspapers & Magazines: 

These can be a good source for finding...

• Notices of sale, construction or other property changes; 
• Ads and news about local businesses; 
• News about specific individuals, including obituaries/death notices. 
• General news and information about what is happening in an area during a given period of time. 

Websites