Loading map...

1956 Map of Clarksburg

Name: 1956 Topographic Map of Clarksburg
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1976
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1976

About this map

The Ohio River corridor serves as the central artery for this mid-century landscape, linking industrial centers from Parkersburg and Marietta northward toward Moundsville. The terrain transitions from the river bottomlands into the deeply dissected plateaus of West Virginia and Ohio, where the Wayne National Forest and Blue Rock State Forest preserve large tracts of timberland. Transportation networks dominate the local economy, with the Baltimore and Ohio RR and Pennsylvania RR following the natural contours of the hills to connect coal-mining and manufacturing hubs like Clarksburg, Fairmont, and Zanesville.

Resource management and recreation are evident in the development of Seneca Lake and Tygart Lake, while the numerous named ridges and knobs, such as Coffee Knob and Buzzard Rocks, highlight a topography that dictated the placement of small settlements and rural roads. This survey, revised in the mid-1960s, captures the region at a height of its industrial and rail-based prosperity before the major shifts of the late 20th century.