1916 Map of Beardsley

About this map

Beardsley and Barry anchor the southern landscape of this 1916 survey, situated along the Great Northern (Browns Valley Line) railroad. The region is defined by a dense network of local education, with numerous numbered and family-named schoolhouses such as Avery School, Wyman School, and the Round Mound School serving the farming townships of Browns Valley and Parnell. The border between South Dakota and Minnesota is marked by the waters of Lake Traverse, where the small settlements of Dakomin and Diamond sit near the shoreline. This geography illustrates a rural prairie economy organized around the rail line and a highly localized system of country schools, many of which were the primary social centers for early twentieth-century residents in Big Stone and Traverse counties.