1940 Map of Granite City

About this map

The Mississippi River dominates this industrial and urban corridor, bifurcating the landscape between the bustling street grids of St Louis City and the manufacturing centers of Granite City and Madison. Large mid-river landmasses like Mosenthein Island and Gabaret Island split the current, creating the secondary Chouteau Slough. On the Missouri side, the geography is defined by a dense concentration of civic institutions, including Beaumont High School, Stowe Teachers College, and several major cemeteries such as Calvary Cemetery. To the east in Illinois, the map reveals a heavy reliance on rail-and-water logistics, featuring the Municipal Dock and the sprawling National Stock Yards. The presence of the Settling Reservoirs and the Waterworks near Bissell underscores the critical infrastructure necessary to support this growing metropolitan hub at the start of the 1940s.