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1985 Map of Ida Grove

Name: 1985 Topographic Map of Ida Grove
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1993
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1993

About this map

Ida Grove serves as a central hub in this Western Iowa landscape, where the agricultural grid is defined by a network of river valleys and historical rail corridors. The Maple River and Boyer River valleys dictate the placement of numerous established settlements, including Denison, Mapleton, and Odebolt. The transportation infrastructure is dominated by the tracks of the Chicago and North Western and Illinois Central Gulf railroads, which facilitated the growth of these grain-handling communities.

Conservation and recreation sites such as Black Hawk Lake and the Kiowa Marsh State Wildlife Management Area provide breaks in the intensive farming landscape. Smaller landmarks like Battle Hill and the Municipal Airport near Ida Grove offer specific points of interest for local historians. This 1985 survey, updated with 1990 photo-inspections, captures the region at a peak of late-20th-century rural development before significant shifts in rail ownership and land use occurred.