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1953 Map of Coal Valley

Name: 1953 Topographic Map of Coal Valley
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1956
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1956

About this map

Industrial activity and suburban expansion converge along the Rock River in this mid-1950s survey. The landscape is defined by its transition from the dense urban grid of Moline and South Moline to the extractive resource lands of Coal Valley. Coal mining heritage is evident at the Black Hawk Mine and Gem Mine, while the southern reaches of the map show a more rural character across the Rural and Western townships.

Infrastructure is particularly dense near the river, where the Chicago Burlington and Quincy railroad and the Illinois and Mississippi Canal parallel the water. Local history is well-preserved through numerous named schools such as the Kingdom School and County Training School, alongside several established burial grounds like the Rock Island Memorial Park Cemetery and Glenwood Cemetery. These details reveal the community structure of the Illinois-Iowa border region during a period of post-war growth.