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1952 Map of Duncan Flats

Name: 1952 Topographic Map of Duncan Flats
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1980
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1980

About this map

New River carves a deep path through the Cumberland Mountains in this mid-century topographic record, where the landscape is defined by the intersection of steep ridgelines and the emerging coal industry. Settlement patterns follow the narrow creek beds, with small communities like Stainville and Clinchmore tucked into the valleys. The map reveals an extensive network of extractive industry, with numerous Strip Mines and bench cuts scarring the slopes of Red Oak Mountain and Buffalo Mountain.

For genealogists, the survey is remarkably dense with family-named landmarks and remote burial sites, including the Ben Phillips Cemetery, Nick Patterson Cemetery, and Emily Cemetery. Educational and spiritual life is documented through scattered landmarks such as the Stony Fork School and Fellowship Church. The transition from older timber and subsistence patterns to large-scale surface mining is visible in the relationship between established locations like Welch Camp and the expanding purple revision layers that denote industrial changes through the late 1970s.