The Buildings
John Street was composed of twenty four buildings, all constructed of brick. The 1882 Sanborn fire insurance map provides us with much information about these buildings, including number of stories, special hazards, and more.
1882 Sanborn Map
Sanborn maps date back to 1867 and were created in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. According to the Library of Congress, "the maps were designed to assist fire insurance agents in determining the degree of hazard associated with a particular property and therefore show the size, shape, and construction of dwellings, commercial buildings, and factories..." This map, created in 1882, is now a useful historical document providing information about each individual building.
In 1882, every building is colored red, indicating that the entire street was constructed of brick tile. We can observe that all twelve buildings on the north side of the street were three stories tall, while all twelve buildings on the south side of the street were four stories tall. This information is consistent with the 1861 Pinney map. However, looking ahead to the 1898 Bromley map we can see significant growth as all the buildings become taller. The buildings on the north side of the street had all grown to 3 and 1/2 stories between 1882 and 1898, with the exception of 35 John Street which had grown to 5 stories. The buildings on the south side of the street had all grown to 4 and 1/2 stories, except for 10, 12, and 16 John Street which had reached 6 stories. This growth is a key indication of the trend of urban vertical expansion, displaying the prominent focus on making buildings taller.
1898 Bromley Map
Library of Congress Sanborn Fire Insurance Map Key
Using this map key from the Library of Congress, we can learn a lot about the buildings. The dotted lines that the map displays between most of the buildings on the north side of the street indicates an interior brick wall that exists, however this brick wall does not exist on at least one floor so therefore these buildings cannot be counted as fully separate. The green areas on the map indicate special hazards, which existed in nine different buildings on this street. Special hazards are in reference to buildings that are especially susceptible to fire damage, typically due to the industry that takes place within the building. Examples of special hazard buildings on John Street included buildings where coffee roasting, tin can manufacturing, and paper box production took place. Tin can manufacturing is classified as level two risk by Sanborn, while box repairing is level three.