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1901 Map of De Soto

Name: 1901 Topographic Map of De Soto
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1931
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1931

About this map

De Soto and Hillsboro anchor this turn-of-the-century landscape where industrial mining and river-borne commerce meet the rugged Ozark foothills. Surveyed in 1896, the map reveals a network of waterways including the Meramec River and Big River, crossed by dozens of named crossings such as Big Eddy Ford, Fishtrap Ford, and McCulloch Ford. These fords and river mills, like Byrnes Mill and Morse Mill, were the essential nodes of a rural economy before widespread bridge construction.

Railroads dictate the growth of major settlements, with the St. Louis Iron Mountain and Southern R. R. serving the eastern corridor and the St. Louis and San Francisco R. R. cutting through the northwest. Away from the tracks, the terrain is dotted with small communities like Catawissa, Luebbering, and Richwoods, while the Vulcan Mine indicates the region's extraction history. Local genealogists will find value in the specific placement of family-named landmarks such as Pollman Mill and Waits Sawmill.