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1893 Map of Delavan

Name: 1893 Topographic Map of Delavan
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1901
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1901

About this map

Delavan and Elkhorn anchor this late nineteenth-century landscape, serving as primary hubs in a region defined by its glacial lakes and expanding rail network. The map reveals the early development of shoreline communities like Fontana and Williams Bay on the western reaches of Lake Geneva, while Delavan Lake remains surrounded by a lattice of rural townships. This era shows the critical role of the Chicago Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad, which cuts through the center of the county to connect Darien and Delavan.

Smaller crossroads settlements such as Tibbet, Millard, and Fayetteville highlight the dense rural population before the consolidation of modern transit. The terrain is marked by numerous smaller water bodies, including Turtle Lake, Silver Lake, and Otter Lake, which feed the drainages of Turtle Creek and Sugar Creek. Surveyed by Van. H. Manning Jr. under the direction of J. W. Powell, this map provides a precise look at the township boundaries and school-district-sized plots that characterized Walworth County at the turn of the century.