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1954 Map of Maulden

Name: 1954 Topographic Map of Maulden
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1955
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1955

About this map

Sturgeon Creek and Sexton Creek carve deep valleys through this part of the Cumberland Plateau during the mid-1950s, defining a landscape of isolated ridges and hollows where the Jackson, Owsley, and Clay County lines meet. The settlement pattern is strictly dictated by the water, with small communities like Maulden and Island City clinging to the narrow fertile bottomlands. These areas are anchored by essential community structures such as the Mt Gilead Ch and Island City Ch, alongside small rural education centers like the Maulden Sch and Buncomb Sch.

A network of family-named cemeteries, including Cradlebow Cem and Reynolds Cem, provides a genealogical map of the region's inhabitants. Unique local identifiers like Boggs Flat and Silvermine Sch suggest a history of localized subsistence and small-scale industry in the years before larger regional shifts altered these Appalachian communities. The map captures the quiet persistence of towns like Burning Springs and Shepherdtown in an era when unpaved roads still served as primary lifelines through the creek forks.