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1947 Map of Bittinger

Name: 1947 Topographic Map of Bittinger
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1975
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1975

About this map

Bittinger sits high in the Garrett County highlands, serving as a focal point for a landscape defined by the parallel ridges of Meadow Mountain and Big Savage Mtn. This mid-century survey captures the rural character of the region, where life was organized around small mountain settlements and spiritual centers like Meadow Mountain Ch and the Meadow Mountain Mission. The infrastructure of the era is evident in the network of forest roads through the Savage River State Forest and the prominence of the Bittinger Fire Tower, once a critical lookout for the surrounding timberlands.

Down in the valley, the Savage River flows toward the Savage River Reservoir, while the Baltimore and Ohio tracks follow the contours of the terrain near Backbone Mtn. Local family history is preserved in the location of the Murphy Cem and Rhodes Cem, along with early educational sites such as the Bear Hill Sch and Dry Run Sch. The presence of the Pleasant Valley Recreation Center and Cunningham Lake suggests the mid-20th-century shift toward recreational land use in these traditional forest and farming uplands.