Esplanade Accession # M74.310.21: Fire Insurance Map of Medicine Hat dating to August 1913, made by the Chas. E. Goad Company.--IMAGE COURTESY ESPLANADE ARTS & HERITAGE CENTRE
As the archives summer student this year, it has been my job to reorganize the estimated 3000 maps and oversized documents we have in our collections. During this process, I have found quite a few items that were interesting or unique. Some I had a personal interest in as a history student, and others were simply hilarious.
In my organizational efforts I have also learned which maps are consulted frequently by researchers, and which maps are more often overlooked. One of the most requested sets of maps are the 1913 fire insurance maps of Medicine Hat.
These maps are useful to researchers because they show a fairly accurate layout of the city, including the stories and materials buildings were made of. This accuracy is important because maps are not always as reliable as people believe. Maps show a perspective of how people of a specific period viewed the world.
Sometimes these views are biased or based on wishful thinking.
For example, another popular set of maps from 1913 are those produced by the F.M. Ginther Land Company. These maps are vastly different to the fire insurance maps, as rather than showing the city as it was, it shows how they wanted the city to be.
The map depicts massive development with prospective neighbourhoods on both sides of the river. We have dozens of these maps in the archives, and it is likely they were distributed as a sort of propaganda about what Medicine Hat could be. Some of these prospective neighbourhoods line up with areas that exist today, which can lend a false sense of legitimacy when looking at the map without context.
Something else I have learned while working with the map collection is that the year a document was accessioned (accepted into the archives) can show what people valued in that period.
While searching and cataloging I found one of my favourite items in our collection, a velvet blacklight poster of Godzilla. Upon finding it, it caused a laughing fit amongst the staff. While at first it may seem like a silly thing to keep, this poster was accessioned in 1984 and probably dates to the mid 70s.
The poster takes on a new light, as it gives us a window into what sort of things people at the archives valued in the 80s, if they accepted it to keep forever.
If you want to stop by and see this glorious poster in person or have other research queries, visit the Archives Reference Services in person at the Esplanade Tuesday to Friday, noon to 5 p.m. You can also view the online catalogue at collections.esplanade.ca.
Hannah White is an archives and education student assistant at the Esplanade Arts & Heritage Centre.
