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1899 Map of Lebanon

Name: 1899 Topographic Map of Lebanon
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1904
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1904

About this map

Industrial and agricultural development in late nineteenth-century Pennsylvania centers on Lebanon, where a dense network of rail lines converges. The Philadelphia and Reading Railroad and the Cornwall and Lebanon Railroad define the movement of iron and coal through the region, connecting the furnace operations at Cornwall with larger markets. To the north, the landscape transitions into the steep ridges of Blue Mountain and Little Mountain, separated by the Monroe Valley.

Smaller milling and farming communities like Crosskill Mills, Fredericksburg, and Myerstown are scattered along the drainage basins of Tulpehocken Creek and Swatara Creek. These waterways, alongside smaller runs like Elizabeth Run and Beach Run, provided the essential power and irrigation that sustained the township's rural economy. The map also captures the early layout of many local hamlets such as Mount Zion, Bismarck, and Jonestown before twentieth-century expansion.