1961 Map of Anna

About this map

The Southern Pacific railroad corridor anchors this 1961 portrait of northern Collin County, connecting the rural centers of Anna and Melissa. The landscape is a network of small family farms and watercourses, including Throckmorton Creek and the East Fork Trinity River, where industrial activity is marked by scattered Gravel Pits and a Quarry near the eastern edge. For genealogists, the map is remarkably dense with family-named landmarks and burial grounds, such as the Brinlee Cem, Lair Cem, and Coffman Cem. Beyond the rail line, the rural infrastructure is characterized by relics like the Old Railroad Grade and the Old Telephone Road, which speak to an earlier era of transport and communication before the modern highway system fully reshaped the Texas blackland prairies.