1972 Map of McCool

About this map

The Illinois Central railroad corridor anchors the small community of McCool along the Yockanookany River in this early 1970s survey. The map details a landscape transition from the river bottomlands to the wooded Ironstone Hills, which rise to the southeast. Local history is deeply embedded in the rural road network, marked by numerous small churches and family-named cemeteries. Near the town site, researchers can locate Mt Pilgrim Cem and the Cem, while further south the map preserves the location of Old Bowie Cem and Bowie Chapel. Numerous sandpits dot the northwestern section of the quadrangle, indicating small-scale local mineral extraction near Bear Creek. To the far south, the settlement of Kerr sits near the confluence of Bridge Creek and Hurricane Creek, where the local terrain is deeply etched by a network of small tributaries including Wildcat Creek and Rawhide Branch.