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1957 Map of Ashland

Name: 1957 Topographic Map of Ashland
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1968
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1968

About this map

Bienville, Red River, and Natchitoches Parishes converge in this mid-century landscape dominated by a network of bayous and rural timber tracts. The town of Ashland serves as a local hub along the Kansas City Southern railroad, which cuts a northwest-to-southeast path through the terrain. Evidence of the region's industrial and social evolution is visible in the scattered Oil Field operations and the transition of local institutions, including the New Hope Sch and Iron Springs Sch, both noted as abandoned by the late 1950s.

Water defines the geography, with Bayou Black Lake and Black Lake Bayou meandering toward the southern marshes near Clear Lake. This map serves as an essential record for genealogical research, documenting numerous small family landmarks and rural congregations like Old Saline Ch, St Mathews Ch, and Stewart Cem. The elevation is tracked through ridges such as Choctaw Ridge and the Martin Lookout Tower, which monitored the surrounding piney woods.