1942 Map of Baldwin

About this map

The Kaskaskia River winds prominently through this southwestern Illinois landscape, defining the character of several surrounding townships including Baldwin and Evansville. This survey, revised in the early 1940s, shows a highly developed rural infrastructure marked by a dense network of country schools, such as Charter Oak School and Jordan Grove School, which served the farming communities before the era of district consolidation. Transportation is anchored by the Mobile and Ohio and Illinois Southern railroads, which facilitated the movement of goods and people through settlements like Red Bud and Marissa. The presence of many family-named schools and small hamlets like Ruma and Schuline provides a detailed look at the social geography of Randolph, Monroe, and St. Clair counties at mid-century.