1957 Map of Forestburg NE

About this map

James River and its meandering tributaries define this mid-century landscape along the border of Beadle and Sanborn counties. The rural community structure of the late 1950s is remarkably clear, centered around a network of country schools including Pearl Sch, Oldenburg Sch, Rhodes Sch, and Maurer Sch. The map records a shift in the local social geography, marking both the Community Hall and the status of several properties like Flagel Sch and Center Sch as abandoned. These details, alongside the Pearl Ch and Bonny Cem, provide a precise record of the prairie township system during a period of transition for family farms in the Missouri River Basin development area. Natural drainage features like Stony Run and the South Fork Pearl Creek cut through the sections, punctuating a landscape of scattered gravel pits and rural homesteads.