1917 Map of Kings

About this map

Camp Grant and the confluence of the Rock River and Kishwaukee River anchor this Northern Illinois landscape during the early twentieth century. The map reveals a dense agricultural and transportation network where the Chicago Milwaukee and St Paul RR and Chicago Great Western RR intersect at Davis Junction and Holcomb. This rail infrastructure supported a string of established rural communities including Stillman Valley, Monroe Center, and Lindenwood. Beyond the larger towns, the map is notable for its incredible concentration of district schoolhouses, such as Black Walnut School, Ogilby School, and Simerick School, which served the farming families of White Rock and Lynnville townships. The Meridian Road provides a primary north-south axis, cutting through terrain that transitions from the river valleys to the elevated Paine's Point in the south.