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1958 Map of Belleville

Name: 1958 Topographic Map of Belleville
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1978
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1978

About this map

Scott AFB anchors the western edge of this landscape, a vital military installation situated between the expanding settlements of Belleville and O'Fallon. This late-1950s record, updated in the 1970s, captures Southern Illinois at a peak of industrial and infrastructural transformation. The emergence of major water projects is evident in the expansive Carlyle Lake and Rend Lake, which reshaped the geography of the Kaskaskia River and Big Muddy River basins.

Resource extraction remains a defining characteristic of the region, with extensive Oil Fields and Strip Mines dotted across the central and eastern sections. The map reveals a dense network of transportation, where historic rail lines like the Baltimore and Ohio and Illinois Central intersect with the burgeoning interstate system. From the small-scale elevations of Emerald Mound and Neudeckers Mountain to the organized conservation of Pyramid St Pk, the sheet provides a meticulous view of rural communities and their shifting relationship with the land.