1954 Map of Hazard North

About this map

Hazard and its northern coal-country environs are defined by the winding course of the North Fork Kentucky River and the industrial infrastructure of the Louisville and Nashville railroad. The landscape in the mid-1950s is a complex network of hollows and ridges, where settlements like Blue Diamond and Hardburly sit tucked into the valleys. The map documents a transition in local transportation and commerce, seen in the presence of the Hazard Airport near Airport Gardens and the numerous small schools and churches that served these mountain communities, such as Jones Sch and the Lost Creek Community Chapel. The concentration of small industrial markers like Gas Well sites alongside established neighborhood names like Walkertown and Allais illustrates the deeply integrated nature of the region's resource extraction and residential life.