1951 Map of Benjamin

About this map

The rural landscape of Lewis County, Missouri, at the mid-century is defined by the winding course of the Wyaconda River and the smaller Little Sugar Creek and Sugar Creek. The settlement of Benjamin serves as a local node, while the surrounding townships of Lyon and Dickerson are dotted with family-named landmarks and rural institutions that suggest a deeply rooted agricultural community. The presence of numerous small schools, such as Allen Sch and Plano Sch, along with churches like Zion Hill Ch and Antioch Ch, indicates a decentralized social structure centered on local school districts and parishes before the era of widespread consolidation. Genealogy researchers will find significant value in the mapped cemeteries, including Hinton Cem, Graves Cem, and Patterson Cem, which anchor the land to the families who worked these fields. Small hamlets like Derrahs and features like the Rainbow Slough further distinguish the local geography of the day.