About the Collections
The maps and atlases in the Trentoniana Collection range from hand drawn to bound plate books. Some of the maps were found inside city directories, which were the telephone books of their day.
Many of the maps, atlases, and city directories in Trentoniana’s collections may be used in house. Please view the lists of available items, linked below.
Maps & Atlases List
City Directories & Phone Books List
Sanborn Fire Insurance Co. Maps
Sanborn maps are large scale plans showing the outline of buildings, their size, shape and construction and the location of windows and doors. They also give street names, street and sidewalk widths, property boundaries, building use, and house and block numbers (both in current and previous usage).
Textural information on construction details such as steel beams or reinforced walls is often given, while shading indicates different building materials. Names of factory owners and what was being manufactured are also included.
Volumes of Sanborn Fire Insurance maps of the Trenton area are available for in-room use, and have also been digitized for 11×17” copying.
Additional digital Sanborn maps can be accessed using the links below.
Princeton University’s Sanborn Maps of New Jersey
The Library of Congress’ Sanborn Maps of New Jersey
New Jersey Digital Highway
Over 100 maps from the Trentoniana Collection have been digitized through a grant from the New Jersey Historical Commission, a Division of the New Jersey Department of State. Use the link below to access this online collection.
Online Map Repositories
More historic maps of New Jersey can be found online at Rutgers University and Princeton University. Use the links below to search their collections.
Rutgers University
Historical Maps of New Jersey
Maps of New Jersey
Princeton University
Historic Maps Collection
Nova Caesaria: A Cartographic Record
Online Mapping Projects
Hunter Research, Inc. created the Trenton in 1775 project for the Trenton Historical Society to build a detailed map showing who owned property and how the land was used in downtown Trenton, north of the Assunpink Creek, around 1775. The goal was to give people a clearer picture of what Trenton looked like just before the American Revolution and the Battles of Trenton. Use the link below to read more about this project and view the map.
