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1949 Map of Ashby

Name: 1949 Topographic Map of Ashby
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1949
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1949

About this map

Family-named ranches and a sprawling network of sandhill lakes define this mid-century portrait of Cherry and Grant counties. The landscape is dominated by the Chicago Burlington and Quincy railroad, which anchors the southern corridor between the small rail-side communities of Ashby and Hyannis. The geography reveals a ranching economy organized around naturally occurring basins, with Hospital Valley, Camp Valley, and Brown Valley providing sheltered lowlands among the dunes.

Genealogists and local historians can trace legacy operations such as the Diamond Bar Ranch, Ferguson-Becker Ranch, and Graham Ranch, each positioned near essential water sources like Mother Lake or Sand Beach Lake. The presence of the Consolidated Sch and Keller Sch reflects the rural education system of the late 1940s, serving a scattered population of cattlemen and homesteaders during an era when the Sandhills remained one of the most distinct and sparsely settled regions in the American West.