1959 Map of Baldwin Gap

About this map

The Tennessee-North Carolina state line follows the high crest of Stone Mountain in this 1959 survey, where the rugged topography of the Blue Ridge defines local life. Small, family-centered settlements like Ashland and Creston are situated along the lower elevations where the North Fork New River and its tributaries carve narrow valleys through the terrain. The map is exceptionally dense with genealogical details, documenting dozens of family burial grounds such as McEwen Cem, Winebarger Cem, and Graybeal Cem, alongside country congregations like Rock Creek Methodist Church. Education and community hubs are found at the Forge Sch and Hammon Chapel. The survey illustrates a landscape of high ridges like Pond Mountain and numerous named hollows, including Payne Hollow and Johnson Hollow, that organized the rural settlement patterns of the era.