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1940 Map of Bacon Gap

Name: 1940 Topographic Map of Bacon Gap
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1940
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1940

About this map

Kingston sits at the strategic confluence of the Tennessee River and the Clinch River, a landscape on the verge of total transformation during this 1940 survey. Blue stipple marking the Watts Bar Reservoir indicates the immense territory slated for submergence, including riverbank sites like Hood Landing and James Ferry. The map documents the existing river-and-rail economy, with the Southern railroad tracking the Tennessee's curves and historic thoroughfares like the Walton Road and Broadway of America cutting through the terrain.

For genealogists, this edition is a critical record of the uplands before modern development, preserving the locations of numerous family-named landmarks like Bacon Ridge and Riley Ridge. It identifies small community centers such as Barnardsville and Fairview Sch, alongside numerous burial grounds including Bowers Cem and Shiloh Cem, many of which were situated near the water's edge before the rising reservoir changed the valley's geography forever.