1972 Map of Bovina

About this map

The Big Black River carves a winding path through the borderlands of Warren and Hinds counties, creating a complex landscape of oxbows and bottomlands including Horseshoe Lake, Gin Lake, and Tomcat Island. In the early 1970s, the rural community of Bovina sat along the path of Interstate 20, while the Illinois Central Gulf Railroad tracked the river valley through Smiths. The map records several localized centers of community life, most notably the site of Mt Beulah College (Abandoned) and numerous country churches such as Morning Star Ch and Pleasant Grove Ch. This period shows a transition in the local economy, where traditional river-and-rail proximity intersects with modern interstate transport, though the landscape remains dotted with family cemeteries like Henry Cem and Montgomery Cem that speak to deeper ancestral roots in the Mississippi hill country.