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1916 Map of Harold

Name: 1916 Topographic Map of Harold
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1916
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1916

About this map

Johns Creek and the meandering Levisa Fork of the Big Sandy River define this 1914 landscape, which was surveyed at a pivotal time for the eastern Kentucky coalfields. The Chesapeake and Ohio railroad snakes alongside the river, connecting a string of riverside communities including Ivel, Harold, and Boldman. This network provided the infrastructure for burgeoning industry, though the map still reflects a primarily rural, kinship-based settlement pattern.

Education and postal services are surprisingly dense in this dissected plateau, evidenced by numerous numbered schoolhouses and family-name post offices such as Woods Emma PO and Betsy Layne PO. The presence of the Sandy Valley Normal School near Banner highlights the region's commitment to teacher training. Genealogists will find significant value in the sheer number of named hollows and creek branches, like Grassy Gap Br and Chestnut Cove Br, which often correspond to specific family homesteads of the era.