1955 Map of Keokee

About this map

Black Mountain and Little Black Mountain dominate the rugged borderlands between Virginia and Kentucky in the mid-1950s. This survey by the Tennessee Valley Authority and USGS captures a landscape defined by sharp ridges and deep hollows, where the coal-country economy is marked by the Louisville and Nashville and Southern railroads. The settlement of Keokee and nearby Darnell Town sit at the foot of the mountains, while the southern half of the sheet opens into Poor Valley, where Dryden and Purcell follow the path of The Lonesome Pine Trail. Family history is preserved through numerous rural landmarks, from the Robbins Chapel School to the Anderson Cem and Ely Memorial Church. The reach of the Jefferson National Forest covers much of the high ground, including Stone Mountain and its Olinger Lookout Tower.