Sanborn Maps

            Odds and Ends From The MUSEUM!

By Trudy Wyman, Curator, Millinocket Society Museum

            Millinocket, Penobscot County Maine, population 2500, January 1904. This information is on page one of a map book by the Sanborn Map Company of New York. This book and three more are in the collection of the Millinocket Historical Society. The 1904 book shows the layout of the downtown area with street names and information regarding water facilities and fire protection.

            Water facilities at that time were listed as “Gravity system with water taken from log pond one mile distant. Mill pumps are conn’d to town system and are to be used in case of need. Pressure at P.O. 40 lbs. 40 hyds. 6 miles of water pipes. Fire Dept. Volunteer, 22 men. 2000 feet 2 1/2” hose.” Also indicated is that the fire department had no steam or hand engine. It had two independent hose carts and no hook and ladder cart.

            The map key/legend indicates that the following information can be found on the maps in the book: number of stories in the buildings; if roof is shingle, composite or slate; fire walls 6 inches, 12 inches or 18 inches above roof; metal or wood cornice; iron or wood doors and shutters.

            This 1904 book shows streets fanning out from Penobscot Avenue to Water Street (which wasn’t developed until later) to Katahdin Avenue, Cherry Street and Essex Street. It appears Essex Street was intended to be parallel to Somerset St.

 The 1912 book, shows streets further out (Bates, Bowdoin, N. Terrace). The population was 3300 and the MFD had forty men, two horses, one H and L truck, two hose carts and a Gamewell fire alarm system (museum has main portion of this system). Also mentioned are that streets are unpaved and lighted by acetylene gas.

            The 1916 map book states the population is 5000 and the fire department has added two chemical trucks. When fire alarm sounds, several pumps at GNP are connected to the village system. A map in this book shows streets off Medway Road (Granite, High, East, South), and Wausau (that’s how it is spelled), Washington and Tremont. The fourth book (1927) has ten double pages and indicates that several more streets had been added.

            Each book (referred to as a “folio”) tells us that the Millinocket Water Company, constructed in 1900, was supplied with its water from Ferguson Pond. When a fire alarm sounded, pumps at Great Northern Paper Company were connected to the village system.  At the fire department, there was one regular man on duty day and night and there were also forty volunteers.

            On each of the map pages, some of the businesses are labeled by name, but some are not. Individual homes may be indicated, but the owner is not named. A key or legend for each shows by color or symbol whether the structure had fire walls, a wood frame, iron doors, and was constructed of wood, brick or stone.

            Daniel Sanborn,  a surveyor from Massachusetts, was hired in 1866 by Aetna Insurance Company to map cities in Tennessee for fire insurance purposes. Sanborn went on to form his own company (Sanborn Map Co.) in 1902 and was in business for many years mapping towns all over the U.S.