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1941 Map of Hamburg

Name: 1941 Topographic Map of Hamburg
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1941
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1941

About this map

The Missouri River and its intricate network of former channels define this tri-state boundary region, where the lines of Iowa, Missouri, and Nebraska converge. The 1939 survey reveals a landscape of shifting silt and floodplains, most notably McKissock Island, which became geographically separated from its parent state of Nebraska by the river's changing course. This alluvial plain is crisscrossed by the Chicago Burlington and Quincy railroad, which supported a dense network of rural school districts and community anchors.

Local life at the turn of the 1940s is mapped through its small-town infrastructure, including the Stoner Cem and numerous namesake schools like Highland Sch and Ellison Sch. The presence of several sloughs, such as Lewis Slough and Holly Slough, underscores the hydrological complexity of the bottoms. To the north, the map abruptly transitions into an Unsurveyed Area, focusing the topographical detail on the productive agricultural lands and river-dependent settlements like Peru and Lewis.