2024 Map of Big Meadow

About this map

Big Meadow and its surrounding wetlands dominate this landscape in the northern plains of Williams County. Managed largely as part of the Williams County Waterfowl Production Area, the terrain is defined by a high density of small basins and prairie potholes, a signature of the region's glacial history. This land-use pattern prioritizes habitat conservation, with the large contiguous blocks of the production area interspersed among the section-line roads of the Public Land Survey System. For genealogists and local historians, several rural burial sites remain preserved across the townships, including Stordahl Lutheran Cem and Saint Olaf Cem in the south, alongside Grong Cem to the northeast. These small cemeteries, often associated with early Norwegian Lutheran congregations, serve as the primary markers of the area's pioneer-era settlement history.