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1955 Map of Keokee

Name: 1955 Topographic Map of Keokee
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1966
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1966

About this map

Coal-country settlements and mountain gaps define this mid-1950s survey of the Virginia-Kentucky border. The landscape is dominated by the ridges of Little Black Mountain and Stone Mountain, separated by Poor Valley. Resource extraction is evident through the presence of several strip mines and a network of railroads, including the Louisville and Nashville and Southern lines, which serviced the mining communities of Keokee, Calvin, and Dryden.

Social centers for these rural communities include Robbins Chapel School and several country churches like Hoover Chapel and Green Hill Church. The Lonesome Pine Trail winds through the valley floor near the Powell River, while the Olinger Lookout Tower stands as a sentinel over the Jefferson National Forest. This map captures a moment when traditional Appalachian life, centered around family-named hollows like Carroll Hollow and Parsons Hollow, intersected with the industrial demands of the mid-century coal economy.