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1974 Map of Fort Polk

Name: 1974 Topographic Map of Fort Polk
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1975
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1975

About this map

The Fort Polk Military Reservation dominates this central Louisiana landscape, showing a complex network of training grounds and logistical hubs during the mid-1970s. The installation is anchored by the North Fort Polk cantonment area and the Fort Polk Army Airfield, surrounded by specialized landmarks like Artillery Lake, Engineer Lake, and numerous firing ranges. Outside the military boundaries, the piney woods of the Kisatchie National Forest provide a contrast of managed wilderness, though the legacy of earlier eras is visible through several old RR grades and the active Kansas City Southern line in the southwest corner.

Rural life persists in the surrounding communities of Simpson, Slagle, and Hicks. For genealogists, the map is a dense record of family history, preserving the locations of numerous country churches and burial grounds such as Union Grove Ch Cem, Holly Springs Cem, and Mt Bethel Ch. The drainage patterns of the Big Slough River and Sixmile Creek weave through the forest, defining the natural topography that shaped the region’s original settlement before the expansion of the military presence.