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1948 Map of Emporium

Name: 1948 Topographic Map of Emporium
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1970
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1970

About this map

Emporium serves as the industrial and social heart of this 1948 survey, where the Driftwood Branch and West Branch Sinnemahoning Creek converge. The Pennsylvania railroad follows the valley floor, connecting the borough to smaller settlements like Sizerville and Gardeau to the north. This corridor was a vital artery for the region's timber and transit history, evidenced by the dense network of drainage hollows and timber-era traces such as McDowell Trail and Switchback Trail.

Away from the valley floor, the landscape transitions into a complex system of ridges and deep hollows like Stone Chimney Hollow and Plank Road Hollow. The map records essential community landmarks of the late 1940s, from the Airport and Sizerville Park to the Newton Cem and St Marks Cem. Numerous named hollows, including Butler Hol and Big Jackson Hol, reveal the deeply etched topography that constrained development to the narrow river flats and lower hillsides of Prospect Park.