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1958 Map of Garretts Bend

Name: 1958 Topographic Map of Garretts Bend
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1965
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1965

About this map

The rugged hill country where Putnam, Kanawha, and Lincoln counties meet is captured here in the late 1950s. This territory, spanning the districts of Curry, Jefferson, Washington, and Duval, is defined by an intricate network of narrow hollows and winding ridges. Small rural communities like Garretts Bend and Tango anchor a landscape heavily shaped by natural gas extraction, indicated by the numerous wells peppering the hillsides near Trace Fork and Turkey Creek.

Local social life is centered on a dense concentration of neighborhood institutions. Numerous country schools, such as Miller Gap Sch and Sunnydale Sch, and small churches like Youngs Chapel and Mt Moriah Cem Ch, are located at the heads of creeks and along ridge roads. The map also reveals the rudimentary transport network of the era, including a Jeep Trail traversing the high ground between Rockhouse Branch and Dry Branch.