1948 Map of Elmwood

About this map

The Spoon River meanders across the northern reaches of this Illinois landscape, which was surveyed shortly after World War II. The region is defined by a dense network of local township schools such as Nightingale Sch and Scotland Sch, reflecting a rural educational system still anchored by one-room schoolhouses before the era of widespread consolidation. Three major railroads—the Chicago and North Western, the Atchison Topeka and Santa Fe, and the Chicago Burlington and Quincy—crisscross the prairie, connecting agricultural hubs like Princeville and Brimfield. In the eastern section, Jubilee College State Park preserves a pocket of early educational history, while the map records numerous family-oriented landmarks such as Paradise Chapel and the Oak Hill and Cem, which serve as vital reference points for researchers exploring the social geography of the late 1940s.