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1949 Map of Manchester

Name: 1949 Topographic Map of Manchester
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1981
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1981

About this map

Manchester and the surrounding Walker County countryside are defined by the winding course of Blackwater Creek and the expansion of surface mining in the mid-20th century. Large Strip Mine excavations, often indicated by purple revisions from the late 1970s, intersect with older rural landmarks like Thatch Jr High Sch and Lamons Chapel. The landscape is a mix of industry and tradition, where the Southern railroad serves the community at Gamble Sta, and timber stands are managed within the southern reaches of the Bankhead National Forest.

Family history is deeply etched into the terrain through sites like Old Bennett Cem and Bennett Cem. These small burial grounds, along with numerous country churches such as Antioch Ch and New Hope Ch, provide critical points of reference for genealogists. The map also captures the early development of Lewis Smith Lake in the northeast corner, showing how the rising waters began to alter the local drainage patterns near Teagle Creek.