1953 Map of Folsom

About this map

Spring Creek meanders through the heart of this mid-century western South Dakota landscape, carving a lush valley through the rugged breaks between Pennington and Custer counties. This 1953 field check captures the modest settlement of Folsom, a quiet hub in a vast ranching and dry-farming region. The topography transitions from the striking Railroad Buttes in the north to the expansive, high-altitude plateau of Phiney Flat in the southeast. A clear picture of rural education during the post-war era is preserved here, specifically through the location of the McMann Sch, which served the families working these isolated tracts. The map reveals the early development of the Missouri River Basin project through its detailed topographic surveying, illustrating how water and elevation dictated the placement of homesteads and winding dirt roads.