1916 Map of Edgington

About this map

Mississippi River channels and shifting alluvial islands define the northern reach of this 1913 survey, where a complex network of waterways like Andalusia Slough and Wyoming Slough weave around Geneva Island. On the northern bank in Iowa, the Chicago Milwaukee and St Paul Pacific railroad tracks follow the river's edge through Montpelier and Sweetland. To the south in Illinois, the landscape transitions from the river bottoms into a high prairie dissected by deep ravines like Big Hollow. This upland is dotted with early twentieth-century rural schoolhouses, such as Whiteoak School, Buffalo Center School, and New Era, serving the agricultural communities of Illinois City and Edgington. The density of named schools and small post offices like Wrayville offers a detailed view of the localized social and educational infrastructure before the consolidation of rural districts.