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1899 Map of Lebanon

Name: 1899 Topographic Map of Lebanon
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1937
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1937

About this map

Lebanon serves as the industrial and transportation hub of this late 19th-century landscape, where a dense network of iron and anthracite-era rail lines converges. The Philadelphia and Reading Railroad and the Cornwall and Lebanon Railroad dominate the valley floor, connecting the iron-rich hills near Cornwall and Rexmont to the wider markets of Pennsylvania. The map reveals a transition from the industrial valley to the northern ridges of Blue Mountain and Little Mountain, separated by the Monroe Valley.

Smaller hamlets and agrarian centers like Myerstown, Jonestown, and Schaefferstown are scattered throughout the surrounding townships of Heidelberg and Bethel. Waterways such as Swatara Creek and Tulpehocken Creek provide the drainage for this productive valley. Notable for genealogists is the inclusion of specific local landmarks like Crosskill Mills and the diverse range of small settlements from Kleinfeltersville to Wintersville, illustrating the established social and economic fabric of the county before the turn of the century.