1928 Map of Gibson City

About this map

Gibson City serves as the primary rail hub on this Central Illinois landscape, where the Illinois Central RR, Wabash RR, and New York Chicago and St Louis RR all converge. The map illustrates a highly organized agricultural grid dotted with an extraordinary number of rural schoolhouses, such as Scotland School, Victoria School, and Caledonia School, indicating a dense population of farming families during the mid-1920s. The meandering course of the Sangamon River and its tributaries like Drummer Creek and Lone Tree Creek provide the only break in the rectilinear township surveys. Smaller villages like Fisher and Elliott are clearly defined by their relationship to the rail lines, while numerous named schools such as Prairie Cottage School and Wildrose School mark the vanished educational centers of these rural communities.