Loading map...

1899 Map of Charleston

Name: 1899 Topographic Map of Charleston
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1901
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1901

About this map

Charleston and the industrial corridors of the Kanawha River define this late 19th-century landscape, where a dense network of railroads and river traffic facilitated West Virginia's early extraction economies. The Kanawha & Michigan R. R. and the Chesapeake and Ohio R. R. parallel the waterways, serving coal interests like the Graham Mines and industrial outposts such as Winifrede. At this time, the river remains a working artery, evidenced by navigation landmarks like Lock Seven and Lock 5, and the transit point at Moore Ferry.

Away from the river flats, the terrain transitions into the steep ridges and hollows of the Appalachian plateau. Small settlements like Griffithsville and Madison serve as remote hubs connected by winding creeks like the Little Coal River and Mud River. Named peaks such as Workman Knob and Hickory Knob overlook a landscape of dispersed farms and timber tracts before the large-scale automation of the 20th century transformed the region.