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1914 Map of Macomb

Name: 1914 Topographic Map of Macomb
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1914
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1914

About this map

Macomb anchors the center of this McDonough County landscape, showing a dense grid of streets and rail lines just before the First World War. The region is defined by a dense network of local education, with dozens of rural schoolhouses such as Lickskillet School, Gooseneck School, and Frogpond School serving as community hubs for outlying townships like Scotland and Chalmers. These institutions, often named for local flora or geography, illustrate the dispersed settlement pattern of the era's agrarian society.

Industrial activity is noted at the Clay Mine near the western edge of the city, while the Chicago Burlington and Quincy railroad and the Waubonsie Trail provide the primary corridors for commerce. To the south, the topography becomes more varied near the McDonough Co Schuyler Co line, where the winding courses of Troublesome Creek and Grindstone Creek cut through the prairie, contrasting with the more orderly township grids to the north.