The library subscribes to the Sanborn Historical Map collection featuring maps of Louisiana cities dating back as far as 1885. For Baton Rouge, you will find well over a hundred maps. The maps for Baton Rouge are dated May 1885, June 1891, May 1898, June 1903, April 1908, August 1911, August 1916, 1923, 1923-1947, 1923-May 1951. It is fascinating to see how our city has changed and grown over time.
Maps can be downloaded as PDF files, and are printable (just not for commercial purposes). On the database you can select the size of the viewing window, re-center maps and zoom in and out.
We also have a physical collection of historic Baton Rouge maps that are part of the Baton Rouge Room collection at the River Center Branch. To find out more about our map holdings please visit the Baton Rouge Room InfoGuide.
To access the maps you can go to EBRPL.com, then Online Databases, or go straight to the maps through the Sanborn links on this page. All you will need to access them is your library card.