1901 Map of Marshall

About this map

The Missouri River and Grand River dictate the geography of this late 19th-century landscape, carving wide bends through the fertile bottomlands of Saline and Carroll counties. This 1880s survey captures a bustling agricultural and transit hub centered on Marshall, where the Chicago and Alton Railroad links small settlements like Mt. Leonard and Shackleford. The map reveals the intricate river morphology of the era, including Miller Island and Prunty Island, and the distinctive oxbow features near Grand Pass Lake. North of the river, the Wabash Railroad and the Atchison Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad traverse the terrain, serving towns such as Carrollton and De Witt. This period represents the peak of the rail-and-river economy before the extensive 20th-century channelization of the Missouri changed the shoreline forever, making the recorded locations of river landings and sandbars like Columbian Bar invaluable for historical river navigation studies.