1888 Map of Eldorado

About this map

The railroad hub of Eldorado serves as the focal point of this late 19th-century survey of Butler County, where several major iron trails converge to drive the prairie economy. The Atchison Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad meets the Union Pacific Railroad and the St Louis Ft Scott and Wichita Railroad here, illustrating the town's importance as a regional transportation center. Moving south and east, the landscape transitions into the drainage basins of Turkey Creek and Little Walnut Creek, where smaller settlements like Leon and Keighley follow the path of the St Louis and San Francisco Railroad. To the north, the terrain is defined by more sparse cattle country near Chelsea and the headwaters of Satchel Creek. This topography, surveyed by E.T. Perkins Jr., documents the early grid of townships and the specific placement of isolated depots like Pontiac and Rosalia before the significant expansion of the 20th century.