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1950 Map of Buffalo Gap

Name: 1950 Topographic Map of Buffalo Gap
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1972
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1972

About this map

The Cheyenne River snakes through the southern half of this landscape, its wide bends carving through the border between Custer and Fall River counties. This mid-century survey captures a rural environment defined by isolated schools and the vital transit corridor of the Chicago and North Western railroad. Along this rail line, the communities of Buffalo Gap and Oral serve as the primary hubs, with the former supported by the Buffalo Gap Cemetery to the south.

The distribution of rural education is evident through the placement of the Falls School, Fairview School, and the specifically noted Friedrick School (Abandoned), suggesting a shift in local population patterns at the time of the 1948 aerial photography. Drainage systems like Beaver Creek and Elm Creek converge toward the river valley, while the presence of a Landing Strip near Oral indicates the modernization of local transport alongside the older steam and diesel rail network.