1891 Map of Clinton

About this map

The Mississippi River serves as the central artery for this late 19th-century landscape, dividing the riverfront communities of Clinton and Lyons in Iowa from Fulton in Illinois. This 1890 survey illustrates the intense concentration of rail infrastructure essential to the era's commerce, with the Chicago and Northwestern RR and the Chicago Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad converging at this critical river crossing. Large islands like Big Beaver Island and Little Rock Island dominate the channel, while smaller settlements like Camanche and Albany anchor the downstream banks. Away from the water, the topography shifts from alluvial plains to the deeply dissected bluffs of Ustick and York, where numerous creeks such as Otter Creek and Cat Tail Creek have carved intricate drainage patterns through the agricultural uplands.