1950 Map of Liberal

About this map

The town of Liberal anchors this 1950 mid-century survey of the Kansas-Missouri borderlands. This landscape is defined by the heavy footprint of the coal industry, with numerous Strip Mines and extensive pits concentrated west of town. The area’s infrastructure is deeply tied to the intersection of three major railroads: the St Louis San Francisco, the Missouri Pacific, and the Kansas City Southern. Beyond the industrial activity, the map reveals a dense network of rural school districts and small settlements such as Ardath, Burgess, and Mulberry. Waterways like Dry Wood Creek and Nicolson Creek provide the primary drainage through the rolling terrain, while Haake Mound stands as a notable natural elevation in this border country.