2011 Map of Blackwater Lake

About this map

White Shield sits at the center of this rural landscape, defined by the sectional grid of McLean County and a series of prairie water bodies. The geography is dominated by natural depressions and waterways, including Blackwater Lake, Brumwell Slough, and Minehan Slough. These features, alongside the West Branch Douglas Creek, illustrate the drainage patterns of the northern plains. The road network follows a strict rectilinear pattern, with named routes like Yellow Bear Rd and County Hwy 9 providing access to local homesteads. For genealogists, the Roseglen Cemetery in the northeast serves as a significant landmark for tracing early 20th-century family histories in the area. The map reveals a community deeply integrated with its hydrological environment, where small settlements and isolated cemeteries persist amidst a landscape shaped by glacial sloughs and creek branches.