The Baltimore Equitable Society provides fire insurance to property owners. Formed on January 21, 1794, incorporation occurred on December 27, 1794. On April 10, 1794, the Society issued its first policy.

The Society continues to do business today from its office building located at the southeast corner of Eutaw and Fayette streets. This building, constructed in 1857, is on the National Register of Historic Places. The Society also maintains a fire museum on the second floor. This museum contains a large variety of historic fire fighting equipment and memorabilia from around the world.

These ledgers contain an abstract of the policy issued. The abstract provides: the owner's name(s); the location, dimensions, and type of building (i.e.brick, wood, etc.). The policy also includes the number of stories and whether the property is residential or commercial. Occasionally mentioned is the name(s) and occupation(s) of the residents. Information concerning any adjoining structures also appears (i.e. smokehouse, carriage house, kitchen, etc.) Given in the left hand margin is the policy number.