1894 Map of Joplin

About this map

Pittsburg and the surrounding Tri-State district emerge as a dense hub of transport and settlement during the late nineteenth-century mining boom. This 1884 survey, reprinted in the early 1900s, shows the complex network of railroads including the St. Louis and San Francisco Railroad and the Kansas City Southern R. R. converging on coal and mineral centers. The map documents a landscape divided by township lines and the state boundaries between Kansas, Missouri, and what was then Indian Territory. Small rail-dependent communities like Scammon, Frontenac, and Opolis dot the prairie, while Baxter Springs and Galena anchor the southern portion of the sheet. Notable water features like Shoal Creek and Lightning Creek provide the primary drainage for the agricultural and industrial terrain of Crawford and Cherokee counties.