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The Charles E. Goad map making company was established in Montreal, Quebec, in 1875. In its business of creating fire insurance plans, the Charles E. Goad map making company was the most comprehensive company in its coverage of Canada. By 1885, the company was firmly established in Canada and by 1910, Goad and his surveyors had created fire insurance plans for more than 1300 Canadian communities. When Charles E. Goad died that same year, the company was taken over by his three sons, who continued to run the business under the name Chas. E. Goad Company. In 1911 an agreement was reached between the Chas. E. Goad Company and the Canadian Fire Underwriters' Association, by which the Goad Company was to create and revise plans for the Association exclusively. The Canadian Fire Underwriters' Association was founded in 1883 for the purpose of standardizing fire insurance rules. This agreement ended in 1917, and in 1918, the Canadian Fire Underwriters' Association established its own plan-making department. It was named the Underwriters' Survey Bureau Limited. At the same time, the Bureau acquired the exclusive rights from the Chas. E. Goad Company to revise and reprint the Goad plans. The Goad Company, which continued to exist until 1930, stopped producing fire insurance plans. In March 1931, the Underwriters' Survey Bureau purchased all of the assets of the Chas. E. Goad Company, including copyright. The Underwriters' Survey Bureau continued to produce fire insurance plans for the cities and towns in Ontario, Quebec, and the Maritimes. The Canadian Fire Underwriters' Association remained responsible for the production of plans in the western provinces and the B.C. Underwriters' Association was responsible for plans in British Columbia. In 1960, these regional operations were amalgamated with the production of plans under the centralized Plan Division of the Canadian Underwriters' Association. In 1975, the Association changed its name to the Insurer's Advisory Organization, and at the same time, decided to cease fire insurance plan production and sell all plan inventories. This was the end of 100 years of continuous fire insurance plan production in Canada. (Taken from: Hayward, Robert J. "Fire Insurance Plans in the National Map Collection." Ottawa: Public Archives of Canada, 1977.) In 1975 when the Association changed its name to Insurers Advisory Organization and discontinued fire insurance plan production, the surplus stock of the printing department was distributed amongst the staff. The following prints are now for sale for the first time. With the exception of Chapleau and Thessalon, all prints are single sided original. They have not been laminated and are suitable for framing or displaying. All plans were hand coloured. The plans include details such as: · the character of the outside and inside construction of buildings · building heights · occupancy or use of individual or groups of buildings · street widths · street numbers · property lines · water pipes or mains, fire hydrants and fire alarm boxes. The plans are all to scale either 100’ to the inch or 50’ to the inch and the buildings are key colour coded according to their construction. The pages are 21 inches by 25 inches. The plans include details of the community’s notable buildings such as prominent manufacturers, merchants and institutions. These plans are originals copyrighted by the Insurers Advisory Organization and may not be reproduced. These are one of a kind plan drawings only found in the archives of insurers, libraries and towns or cities. The images shown are actual 8 1/2 “ by 11” scanned, except for Victoria Road. |
