Series consists of large scale fire insurance plans of towns and cities across Canada. These plans contain information on the construction materials, building size and layout, street widths, and the location of fire protection facilities, such as fire hydrants, water pipes, and fire walls. Fire insurance plans were used by insurance underwriters to determine the physical characteristics of the properties they insured. The plans were usually produced in color. Most plans contain an index map called a "Key Plan" either as an inset or on a separate sheet. The Key Plan is a smaller scale map of the town or city which has the sheet numbers superimposed on it. Larger cities also contained indexes to streets, blocks and specials (e.g. schools, churches, post offices). For larger cities, the plans are produced on multiple sheets which could then be bound. Series includes some outline sheets which are uncolored versions of specific sheets containing only the street names and the sheet number. These outline sheets were provided to clients so that notations (such as the policy number or the amount insured) could be made in pencil on the plans, thus keeping the plans up to date. Series includes some special surveys of industrial and commerical sites such as mills, elevators, canneries and breweries. For example, "The Ogilvie Flour Mills Co. Mills & Elevators, Winnipeg, Man., June 1909" and "The Northern Elevator Co. Ltd., Winnipeg, Man., April 1901". The special surveys were generally more detailed than the town and city plans since they tended to contain insets showing cross-sections of buildings and a "bird's eye" view of the area. Also, considerable textual information was included on the company's production, employees, utilities and building construction.
