Interpreting Sheet Numbers

Considering that there were more than fifty thousand editions of fire insurance maps of more than ten thousand communities, it is not surprising to find inconsistencies in the way sheets in a given edition were numbered. In early atlases, numbering was often sequential across coverage for the whole city. In other cases, especially in later editions, numbering was sequential within each volume. In some early editions also, double-page plates were given a single number, but the most common pattern was to have a separate number for each page. Prefatory material was not given page numbers, however.

In the checklist of maps, Fire Insurance Maps in the Library of Congress, the figure in the column that indicates the number of pages does not reflect the page numbering. The figure that is given includes any unpaginated prefatory material, even the inside of atlas covers to which indexes have been pasted. Where applicable, the comments column in Fire Insurance Maps in the Library of Congress indicates special numbering sequences, such as double-page plates.

How to interpret:

• Block Numbers
• Reports on Fire Protection
• Congested Districts
• Scales
• Dates of Maps and Publications
• Indexes (Graphic, Special, Street)
• Water Systems