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1935 Map of Centralia

Name: 1935 Topographic Map of Centralia
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1958
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1958

About this map

Centralia serves as the industrial and transportation hub for this portion of southern Illinois, where the Illinois Central, Southern, and Chicago Burlington and Quincy railroads converge. The 1935 culture revision shows a landscape defined by its grid-based township system and an extensive network of rural schoolhouses, such as Possumtrot School and Red Stripe School, which supported the dispersed farming population.

Water management is prominent in the southern half of the map, marked by the Old Reservoir and the Centralia Reservoir situated along Crooked Creek. To the north, the Kaskaskia River and its East Fork meander through the Boulder Bottoms, providing a stark contrast to the straight-line development seen in nearby settlements like Sandoval and Odin. The survey captures the transition from horse-and-wagon rural life to a rail-centered regional economy, documented by the meticulous placement of family-named landmarks like Watson Springs and the Centralia Cemetery.