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1951 Map of Mason City SE

Name: 1951 Topographic Map of Mason City SE
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1953
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1953

About this map

The South Loup River meanders across the southern portion of this mid-century landscape, defining a wide valley through Custer and Buffalo Counties. This 1951 field-checked survey reveals a rural Nebraska community organized around local school districts and small churches. The distribution of institutions such as the Salem Ch and the Elk Creek Cem highlights the decentralized social structure of the era.

Educational life is remarkably well-documented, with numerous rural schools like Tufford Sch, Pilot Sch, and Red Wing Sch spaced to serve the farming families along the creek beds. To the north, the terrain transitions into the more complex topography of the Black Hill Basin, where the Black Hill Basin Sch and Black Hill Creek Sch sat near the drainage of Black Hill Creek. The map provides an essential look at a prairie infrastructure before the consolidation of many rural school districts.