1972 Map of Garfield

About this map

The Arkansas River cuts a diagonal path across this section of southwestern Kansas, serving as the central geographic axis for the small community of Garfield. In the early 1970s, the landscape was a mix of river bottomlands and the rising elevations of Pleasant Ridge and Pleasant Grove. Transport and industry are closely tied to the water, with the Atchison Topeka and Santa Fe railroad tracks paralleling the river's course, passing through the village of Hamburg. Away from the river, the township of Orange is defined by a systematic grid of section lines and the emerging footprint of the energy industry. Numerous Oil Wells and scattered Gravel Pits indicate the extraction economy of Pawnee County during this era, while Pickle Creek drains the southern fields toward the main river valley.