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1952 Map of Duncan Flats

Name: 1952 Topographic Map of Duncan Flats
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1968
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1968

About this map

The New River carves a deep path through the coal-bearing ridges of the Cumberland Mountains, anchoring a landscape defined by isolated settlements and family-held land in the early 1950s. Communities like Clinchmore and Stainville are linked by winding routes like the Ligias Fork Road, reflecting a terrain where transport was dictated by the drainage of Beech Fork and Ligias Fork. The high concentration of family-named cemeteries, such as the Link Phillips Cemetery and Asslinger Cemetery, suggests a deeply rooted local genealogy tied to specific mountain hollows.

Institutional life centers on rural intersections, where the Redoak Gap School and Grave Hill Church served dispersed residents. The presence of a Strip mine and several unnamed coal mines near Valley Divide points to the area's industrial dependence on the underlying geology. This survey captures a moment before large-scale topographical shifts, documenting the small-scale coal camps like Welch Camp and Gennett Camp that characterized the mid-century Appalachian mining economy.