1935 Map of Back Valley

About this map

The Powell River snakes across the northern landscape of this 1935 survey, a deeply incised waterway defining the borderlands of Tennessee and Virginia. The rural social fabric of the era is remarkably dense with country institutions, from the Wolfenbarger Ch near the river to the Thomas Chapel tucked along Mulberry Creek. Numerous small schools like Mt Davis Sch and Sunnyside Sch suggest a landscape of self-contained valley communities connected by trails and early roads such as State Hy No 66.