Q. How do I find the Sanborn maps?

UVa has published much (all but copyrighted) of its Sanborn collection here: https://geoportal.lib.virginia.edu/UVASanbornDiscovery/

Many out-of-copyright Sanborn maps are available through the Library of Congress.https://www.loc.gov/collections/sanborn-maps/

There is a subscription service that provides comprehensive access to the black and white versions of the maps for non-commercial purposes.https://digitalsanbornmaps.proquest.com/

And Sanborn Maps are available in the UVA catalog here, covering from 1867 to 1970:

https://search.lib.virginia.edu/search?mode=basic&scope=all&q=keyword%3A%20%7Bsanborn%20fire%20insurance%7D&exclude=jmrl,worldcat&pool=maps&sort=SortRelevance_desc

Unfortunately our Sanborn maps are restricted to current UVA students, faculty, and staff due to our licensing agreement with the company. If you are ever in the area you can come to the library to view them, otherwise it would be worth getting in touch with your local library to see if they have access to the maps.

The Wayback Machine might be of some use, as these maps are publicly available:

https://web.archive.org/web/20070304191715/http://fisher.lib.virginia.edu/collections/maps/sanborn/

The Library of Congress also has many available, up to 1893:

https://www.loc.gov/collections/sanborn-maps/?fa=location%3Aindependent+cities%7Clocation%3Anewport+news&all=true

This page managed by the Library of Virginia also has some good leads:

https://www.mapofus.org/virginia/