Fire Insurance Plans
These plans are valuable documents for building research. They are large-scale maps that show the shape, size and exact location of individual buildings. They also provide details about the construction materials, outbuildings and neighbourhoods. Local History and Archives holds the following plans.
Physical Plans:
- Hamilton – 1927 revised 1947. Volume 1.
- Hamilton – 1960 volumes 1-5.
- Burlington – 1971
- Dundas – 1951
- Grimsby– 1928
Note: Hamilton - 1927, revised 1933, volumes 1-3 are currently unavailable due to conservation work.
Microfilm Only Plans:
- Ancaster – 1885 revised 1909
- Burlington – 1910
- Burlington – 1924 revised 1932
- Burlington Beach – 1900 revised 1911
- Dundas – 1905
- Dundas – 1951
- Grimsby – 1914
- Grimsby – 1928
- Hamilton – 1898 revised 1916. Volumes 2-4.
- Hamilton Block Index – 1927
- Hamilton Block Index – 1933
- Hamilton – 1960. Volumes 2-5.
- Hamilton – 1964. Volume 2.
- Stoney Creek – n.d.
- Stoney Creek – 1933
- Waterdown 1885 revised 1905
- Waterdown – 1939
Fire Insurance Plans are also available through McMaster University's Lloyd Reeds Map Collection.
Bird’s-eye View, Pictorial and Surveyor’s Maps
These types of map can show a building’s location within its neighbourhood and the city of Hamilton. These maps can also provide information about the layout of the city or town and changes in street names over the course of time.
- 1842 – surveyor’s map showing buildings
- 1854 – from the escarpment looking north
- 1859 – from the escarpment looking north
- 1876 – from the Bay looking south
- 1883 – from the escarpment looking north
- 1893 – from the Bay looking south
- 1909 – from the Bay looking south
- 1921 – surveyor’s maps showing buildings
Map inventories are available by date or by location.
Wentworth County Atlas
A series of detailed atlases were created to document counties across Ontario. They can show locations of structures and other details. Some buildings are also illustrated in the body of the atlas.
- 1875
- 1903 – R912.7135 T985 CESH folio [note: fragile]
You can also search Historical Atlases on-line, a project hosted by McGill University's Rare Books and Special Collections Division with indexed county atlas information.