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1915 Map of Gillespie

Name: 1915 Topographic Map of Gillespie
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1915
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1915

About this map

Gillespie and the surrounding coal-rich landscape of Macoupin County appear here during a peak era of industrial and rail expansion. The map reveals an intricate network of competing rail lines, including the Illinois Traction and the Chicago and St Louis, which served the region's productive coal fields. Heavy industry is marked by prominent facilities like the Coal Washer near Gillespie and numbered operations such as Mine No 1 and Mine No 3.

Away from the rail corridors, the terrain transitions into a dense fabric of rural life, evidenced by the high concentration of named country schools like Spanish Needle School, Honey Point School, and Corrington Chapel School. These institutions, alongside small settlements like Boylestown and Plainview, illustrate the high population density of the Illinois prairie before later 20th-century consolidation. Natural drainage is defined by the winding paths of Cahokia Creek and Macoupin Creek, which cut through the level uplands.