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1950 Map of Alton

Name: 1950 Topographic Map of Alton
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1959
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1959

About this map

The Ohio River dictates the landscape along the Indiana and Kentucky border, carving deep bends like Big Bend and Oxbow Bend. This mid-century survey reveals a riverine economy where settlements such as Leavenworth and Alton sit nestled against the water, while the interior is dominated by the dense canopy of the Harrison Crawford State Forest. The map captures a high density of small rural institutions that anchored these communities, including the St Theresa Academy near Rhodelia and various country houses of worship like Mansfield Ch and Sacred Heart.

Tracing the smaller tributaries such as the Blue River and Little Blue River, the survey documents the upland topography marked by geological features like the Jarbo Sinks and Greenbriar Knob. Numerous family-named landmarks, from the Birds Cem to the Peckenpaugh Sch, provide essential data for genealogists and local historians studying the Crawford, Harrison, and Meade County areas before modern development altered these traditional settlement patterns.