1923 Map of Fort Dodge

About this map

The Des Moines River and its major tributaries like Deer Creek and Badger Creek carve a distinct path through this central Iowa landscape, defining the layout of rural Webster Co and Humboldt Co. During the early 1920s, the region was a bustling corridor of commerce and travel, anchored by the industrial center of Fort Dodge and the crossroads at Humboldt. Significant historical infrastructure is visible, including the Daniel Boone Trail and the Hawkeye Highway, alongside a dense network of railroads such as the Illinois Central and Chicago Great Western. The map reveals a highly organized rural society, marked by an incredible density of numbered country schoolhouses and named sites like the Owl Lake School and Indian Mound School, which served the farming townships of Badger, Norway, and Cooper.