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1976 Map of Alum Creek

Name: 1976 Topographic Map of Alum Creek
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1980
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1980

About this map

The Coal River meanders through a deeply dissected landscape in this mid-1970s orthophoto, showing the intricate relationship between West Virginia's topography and its settlement patterns. While the northern edge transitions into the more developed Saint Albans area near the Kanawha River, the heart of the map focuses on the winding river valleys that dictate the location of communities like Upper Falls and Forks of Coal.

This aerial perspective provides a unique view of the 1976 land use, where the dense forest cover of the Appalachian hills is interrupted by narrow corridors of activity along the water. Small settlements like Priestle and the namesake Alum Creek are captured at a moment of transition, showing the exact footprint of residential clusters and winding country roads before decades of later suburban expansion and timber regrowth altered the visible textures of the valley floor.