1894 Map of Goose Lake

About this map

Charlotte and the nearby marshy waters of Goose Lake define this late 19th-century landscape in eastern Iowa. Surveyed in 1890, the map documents a region dominated by township divisions like Waterford, Deep Creek, and Elk River, where the prairie was rapidly being integrated into the national economy via rail. The Chicago and North Western Railroad cuts across the northern and southern portions of the sheet, connecting early depots at Malone, Low Moor, and Bryant. To the southeast, the Mississippi River and the Iowa Illinois Boundary Line mark the edge of the state, with Camanche serving as a riverside hub. Significant watercourses like the Wapsipinicon River and Deer Creek reveal the natural drainage patterns that shaped the placement of farmsteads and the eventual path of the Burlington Cedar Rapids and Northern R.R.