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1933 Map of Bruceton

Name: 1933 Topographic Map of Bruceton
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1950
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1950

About this map

Bruceton Mills and the high ridges of Grant and Pleasant districts anchor this Depression-era survey of Preston County. The landscape is defined by the sharp descent of the Cheat River through the southern half of the quadrangle, where the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad follows its winding course past industrial sites like Ruthbelle Mill and the Gaflisch Mine. This was a territory of small, self-contained rural communities, marked by an exceptionally high density of one-room schoolhouses such as Glade Meadow School and Deep Hollow School.

The border between West Virginia and Pennsylvania splits the northern terrain, where settlements like Gibbon Glade and Clifton Mills sit among complex creek systems. For family historians, the map provides precise locations for numerous country congregations and burial grounds, including the Old Brick Church, Shady Grove Church, and Pleasant Grove Cem. The presence of landmarks like Hudsons and Orr suggests the persistence of family homesteads in a period when the river-and-rail economy remained the primary driver of local movement.