I have a question regarding some of my all-time favorite maps, the Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps. In the past, I’ve been so engaged by the building stock and business information in these maps that, after many years of perusal, I’ve just now noticed that the title block of each map’s sheet 1 contains a population number for the geography in question. Do any of you have any idea where or how this number was derived or what it actually encompasses?
Here’s why I’m curious. I hail from Honesdale, PA and the 1903 Sanborn map says Honesdale has a population of 7,000. The 1900 Census, data from which would have been available, puts Honesdale’s population below 3,000. Perhaps Sanborn was coming up with a population number from the “greater Honesdale area” and not just counting Honesdale Borough? When I look at Hawley, PA, though, their 1903 Sanborn number is 2,500 and that’s right in line with the 1900 Census’s number of under 2,000, which implies the municipal boundaries are being used. I don’t know what to think but figured I’d check and see if you all had any insight.
ESRI is a well known data provider these days and they put out their own population estimates outside of the Census Bureau so it made me wonder if Sanborn was in the same business years ago. If they were, what were their standards? Who would have had a better read on population?