1962 Map of Canton

About this map

The Big Sioux River carves a winding path along the South Dakota and Iowa border, defining the geography of this prairie landscape. The city of Canton serves as the regional hub, notable for the presence of the Augustana Academy and the Canton-Inwood Hospital. To the south, the smaller settlement of Beloit sits at a sharp bend in the river, served by the Chicago Milwaukee St Paul and Pacific railroad which cuts diagonally across the township lines. The survey reveals a dense network of rural education, featuring one-room schoolhouses like York Sch, Banner Sch, and Sunnyside Sch distributed across the townships of Dayton and Canton. The transition from the flat agricultural uplands to the river's floodplain is marked by the Centennial Valley and numerous Gravel Pits that suggest the area's local industrial activity during the early 1960s.