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1973 Map of La Crescent

Name: 1973 Topographic Map of La Crescent
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1976
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1976

About this map

The Mississippi River dominates this mid-1970s landscape, serving as both a state boundary and a complex ecological corridor between La Crosse, Wisconsin, and the Minnesota river towns. The intricate network of the Upper Mississippi River Wild Life and Fish Refuge covers a vast portion of the eastern sheet, characterized by a labyrinth of secondary channels and backwaters like French Slough, Smith Slough, and Target Lake. This riparian system contrasts sharply with the steep bluffs to the west, where the Minnesota Memorial Hardwood State Forest blankets the rising terrain.

Local settlements and transport routes follow the narrow corridors between the hills and the water. La Crescent and Hokah sit at the mouths of valley systems, while the Chicago Milwaukee St Paul and Pacific railroad traces the riverbank. Genealogists can identify several historic burial grounds, including Crucifixion Cem and Mt Calvary Cem, along with industrial footprints like the numerous quarries and sandpits that signify the region's extraction history.