1958 Map of Centerville

About this map

Centerville and Ottumwa anchor this mid-century portrait of the rolling borderlands between southern Iowa and northern Missouri. The landscape is defined by a dense network of southward-flowing waterways, including the Chariton River, Grand River, and the Thompson River, which carved the regional topography long before the arrival of the rails. The industrial and transit patterns of the 1950s are clearly visible through the extensive tracks of the Chicago Burlington and Quincy and the Wabash railroads, which connected agricultural hubs like Bloomfield, Chariton, and Kirksville to larger markets.