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1955 Map of Fredericksburg

Name: 1955 Topographic Map of Fredericksburg
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1970
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1970

About this map

Blue Mountain and Little Mountain dominate the northern landscape of this Lebanon County region, where the Appalachian Trail follows the ridgeline overlooking a valley transition from forest to farmland. By the mid-1950s, the rural character of Fredericksburg and Jonestown was being reshaped by modern infrastructure, including the William Penn Highway and an interstate project marked under construction. The map reveals a deep history of transport and settlement, following the path of the Union Canal along the Swatara Creek and the Reading railroad corridor.

Local life is centered around a network of country schoolhouses and churches, such as Sherks Sch and Union Salem Ch. Notable recreational sites like Camp Strause and Camp Arewa are tucked into the northern hollows, while the southern landscape near Bunker Hill and Mt Zion shows the dispersed rural hamlets of the Pennsylvania Dutch countryside. The 1969 photorevisions capture the expansion of the Fredericksburg airfield and industrial developments like the Gas Pumping Sta.