Loading map...

1891 Map of Limon

Name: 1891 Topographic Map of Limon
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1963
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1963

About this map

The confluence of the Kansas Pacific Railroad and the Chicago Kansas and Nebraska Railroad defines the development of this High Plains corridor in the early 1890s. Centered on the junction at Limon, the map illustrates a landscape transitioning from open range to a rail-dependent economy. Early settlements like River Bend, Resolis, and Agate follow the iron rail lines, which provided the essential lifeline for pioneers across the divide between the East Bijou Creek and Big Sandy Creek basins.

Isolated homesteads and livestock operations, such as Silsby Ranch and several unnamed Ranch sites, are scattered across the terrain near landmarks like Cedar Point and Hugo Hill. This survey, conducted by A.H. Thompson and Willard D. Johnson, captures the precise moment when the steam engine transformed the eastern Colorado plains from a frontier into a network of organized shipping points and burgeoning townships.