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1969 Map of Cottondale

Name: 1969 Topographic Map of Cottondale
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1973
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1973

About this map

Industrial and residential development defines the landscape east of Tuscaloosa in the late 1960s, where the Gulf Mobile and Ohio and Louisville and Nashville railroads converge. The map shows the sprawling footprints of Universal Heights and Holt, while Peterson and Fleetwood remain more isolated by the meandering path of Hurricane Creek. The presence of several Strip Mines north of the river and rail lines underscores the region’s extractive economy during this era.

Further south, the community of Cottondale serves as a central hub, flanked by institutional landmarks like the Veterans Hospital and the expansive Tuscaloosa Memorial Park. Traditional rural anchors such as Kennedy Chapel and Andrews Chapel provide a glimpse into the social fabric of the surrounding hills, even as suburban growth begins to fill the spaces between the Southern railroad and the various creek branches like Bee Branch and Willow Swamp.