1930 Map of La Crescent

About this map

La Crosse and its immediate riverine surroundings are defined by an intricate network of waterways and islands along the Mississippi River in the late 1920s. The map captures a complex environment where industrial and agricultural life met the shifting sloughs and chutes of the Upper Mississippi, including Hammond Chute and Broken Gun Slough. This survey is notable for its early use of aerial photography compiled by the Army Air Corps to document the shifting drainage patterns of French Island and its smaller neighbors. Rural education centers like Oak Grove Sch and Lower Brice Prairie Sch serve as markers for the era's farming communities, while the Chicago and Northwestern and Chicago Burlington and Quincy railroads illustrate the corridor's critical role in Midwestern transit and transport.