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1954 Map of Mayking

Name: 1954 Topographic Map of Mayking
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1967
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1967

About this map

The Louisville and Nashville railroad winds through the narrow hollows of Letcher County, following the course of the North Fork Kentucky River and Rockhouse Creek. This mid-century survey illustrates a landscape of dense mountain communities, where life was organized around the myriad gaps and branches of the Cumberland Plateau. Small settlements like Mayking, Marlowe, and Thornton are linked by a network of one-room schoolhouses and country churches, such as Beaverdam Sch and Camp Branch Chapel.

Topography here was heavily influenced by the extraction economy, with the map drawing from coal company records to detail the intricate drainages of Crafts Colly and Licking River. Notable landmarks include a Lookout Tower and a Gas Well near the Knott County line, marking the intersection of early energy development and forest management. Numerous family-named features like Collins Cem and Solomon Branch provide essential data for genealogists tracing the 20th-century history of these Kentucky coal towns.