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1958 Map of Big Pool

Name: 1958 Topographic Map of Big Pool
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1959
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1959

About this map

Potomac River transportation corridors dominate this late-1950s survey of the borderlands between Maryland and West Virginia. The historic Chesapeake and Ohio Canal and the Baltimore and Ohio railroad follow the northern riverbank, framing the landmark Big Pool and Fort Frederick State Park. This area showcases a transition from the industrial river valley to the rural ridges of Hedgesville and Tomahawk.

Upland life is marked by small settlements and community institutions such as Pleasant View Sch and Hedges Chapel. The landscape is physically defined by Sleepy Creek Mountain and North Mountain, with the Sleepy Creek State Forest protecting the western heights. Local drainages like Tilhance Creek and Back Creek weave through a network of orchards and fields, where a legacy of family land use is documented through unchecked fence and field lines recorded during 1947 aerial photography.