Outline Map of Chicago

Index map to a massive five volume insurance atlas of Chicago.

The Great Chicago Fire in 1871 and subsequent rapid rebuilding of the city added to the need for accurate and reliable urban maps. Several companies, Sanborn being the most well known, created specialized fire insurance atlases. These large, bound tomes included detailed small scale maps that showed individual buildings color coded by construction material. Insurance companies would use the maps as a reference when determining rates and premiums.

Elisha Robinson published a five volume set in 1886, covered by this index map that was issued to accompany the atlases. The Chicago River, Illinois and Michigan Canal and a handful of street names are labeled. Each section is numbered individually and colored for easy identification.