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1936 Map of Bethesda

Name: 1936 Topographic Map of Bethesda
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1969
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1969

About this map

Bethesda and the surrounding rural landscapes of southern Williamson County are captured here during a 1936 field examination, coordinated by the Tennessee Valley Authority. The map reveals a deeply established family-land network, evidenced by the high density of namesake burial grounds such as Pointer Cem, Evans Cem, Smithson Cem, and Crutcher Cem. These features, along with Mt Zion Ch and the Bethesda Sch, highlight the community centers of this agricultural era before the expansion of modern infrastructure.

The physical geography is defined by the Basin Divide, separating the intricate drainage of Aenon Creek, Mud Creek, and Rutherford Creek. Small settlements like Johnson and Cross Key are connected by a web of early roads and trails, winding through features like Johnson Hollow and past the elevated Pull Tight Hill. This advance sheet provides a clear record of the Tennessee countryside just as aerial photography began to transform modern surveying.