Editing Sanborn maps (section)

=== Decline of insurance business ===

In the 1950s, insurance companies began to use an alternative form of [[underwriting]] known as ''line carding''.<ref name="loc"/><ref name="buffett1960"/>  Line carding had been used for decades to underwrite properties that were not covered by fire maps.<ref name="alabama1921">{{cite book|title=Annual Report of the Commissioner of Insurance of the State of Alabama for the Year Ending December 31, 1921|date=1922|publisher=Brown Printing Company|location=Montgomery, Alabama|page=44|quote=Maps are kept of business in the downtown district and proper care is exercised in considering block lines and conflagration hazard.  They propose to institute a line card system to properly care for lines not shown on maps.}}</ref>  Each insured property was listed on a single card, and no map was kept.  Corporate mergers also reduced the need for Sanborn Maps, since the consolidated company only needed to buy one set of maps.  As insurance companies increased in size, they could withstand larger disasters and no longer needed to use insurance maps to reduce their concentration of risk.  Companies also cited "modern building construction, better [[building code|building fire codes]], and improved fire protection methods for the decline in importance of fire insurance maps."<ref name="ristow1968"/>

From the late 1930s to the late 1950s, Sanborn's annual profit fell from $500,000 to just $100,000.  About thirty insurance companies accounted for most of the company's sales.  However, its monopoly over insurance mapping had allowed it to earn substantial profits over the decades.  These profits were invested in a portfolio of stocks and bonds.  By 1958, the stock was selling for $45 per share, but the investment portfolio was worth $65 per share.  This attracted the attention of the young [[Warren Buffett]], who pressured the company to distribute the investment portfolio to shareholders.<ref name="buffett1960"/>
[[File:"New Orleans Brewing Association" Brewery in 1896, Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from New Orleans, Orleans Parish, Louisiana. LOC sanborn03376 007-3 (cropped).jpg|left|thumb|"New Orleans Brewing Association" Brewery in 1896 from Sanborn Fire Insurance Map of New Orleans]]
Buffett eventually purchased 23% of the company's outstanding shares as an [[activist investor]], representing 35% of his investment partnership's total [[assets under management]].  Allied with other dissatisfied shareholders, Buffett could count on the votes of at least 44% of the shares in a [[proxy fight]].  The Board agreed to [[Share repurchase|buy back]] shares from any shareholder at fair value, paying with a portion of its investment portfolio.  72% of the outstanding shares were turned in.<ref name="buffett1960"/>  In just two years, Buffett had secured a 50% return on his investment.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Lowenstein|first1=Roger|title=Buffett: The Making of an American Capitalist|date=1995|publisher=Random House Trade Paperbacks|location=New York|isbn=9780804150606|pages=65–66|edition=2008 Trade Paperback}}</ref>

With the decline of its insurance business, Sanborn could no longer afford to maintain its army of surveyors.  However, the company continued to sell its maps and perform some updates. Government sales began to play a larger role, especially the [[United States Census Bureau|Census Bureau]] and municipal planning agencies.  Sanborn printed its last catalog in 1950, created its last new map in 1961, and issued its last update in 1977.<ref name="loc"/>

In 1996, the license for the maps was acquired by land data company Environmental Data Resources (EDR).<ref name=loc1/>{{citation needed|date=October 2020}}  In 2019, EDR was acquired by real estate services company LightBox.<ref name=real1/>

Over time, Sanborn diversified into other mapping activities, and as of 2020 is a geospatial specialist and holder of electronic GIS assets and systems, though the fire insurance business continues as a niche department. Corporate headquarters are in Colorado.<ref>{{Cite web|url = http://www.sanborn.com/|title = Corporate home page|accessdate = 2015-05-14|website = Total Geospatial Solutions|publisher = Sanborn}}</ref>

{{Anchor|Modern uses}}