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1911 Map of La Salle

Name: 1911 Topographic Map of La Salle
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1911
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1911

About this map

The Illinois River corridor serves as the industrial and transit heart of this 1911 survey, where the concentrated development of La Salle, Peru, and Spring Valley reflects the region's intense coal mining and manufacturing era. The landscape is a dense network of competing rail lines, including the Chicago Rock Island and Pacific RR and the Illinois Valley Electric RR, which stitch together mining towns like Ladd and Cherry. A key historical feature is the Illinois and Michigan Canal, visible running parallel to the river and passing the distinctive Split Rock formation.

Further south, the Vermilion River carves through the terrain toward Deer Park and Bailey Falls, providing a sharp contrast to the flat agricultural townships of Troy Grove and Ophir to the north. Local landmarks such as St Bedes College and numerous rural schoolhouses like Waltham School and Gammel School offer specific points of interest for genealogists tracing early twentieth-century community life in LaSalle and Bureau Counties.