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1891 Map of Lewisburg

Name: 1891 Topographic Map of Lewisburg
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1905
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1905

About this map

Lewisburg and the winding Greenbrier River anchor this late 19th-century survey of the high Allegheny country. The landscape is defined by the heavy infrastructure of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad, which bores through the ridges at Lewis Tunnel and Alleghany Tunnel. This rail corridor fostered industrial and resort growth, connecting the iron extraction at Stack Mines to the storied waters of White Sulphur Springs and Sweet Chalybeate Spring.

Away from the rail lines, the map reveals an older network of mountain settlements and post offices. Early industry is visible at sites like Van Staverns Mill and Ripleys Mill, while the presence of the Half Way House north of Lewisburg speaks to the era of stagecoach travel. The rugged topography of Alleghany Mountain and Peters Mountain creates a natural divide that the 1880s surveying teams carefully traced along the West Virginia and Virginia border.