1954 Map of Manitowoc

About this map

Lake Michigan dominates the center of this mid-century survey, illustrating the maritime connections between Wisconsin's Door Peninsula and Michigan's western shore. Long before modern bridges, the map highlights the heavy industrial reliance on water transport, specifically the Ann Arbor Railway Car and Auto Ferry and the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway Car and Auto Ferry routes that bridged the two states. On the western shore, the shipbuilding and industrial centers of Manitowoc, Two Rivers, and Sturgeon Bay are prominent, while smaller fishing and agricultural hubs like Algoma and Kewaunee dot the coastline. To the east, the Michigan coastline is defined by the Manistee National Forest and the sandy reaches of Point Betsie and Sleeping Bear Point. The presence of the Chicago and North Western railroad line feeding into the lakeside ports emphasizes the era's integrated rail-to-ferry logistics system.