1892 Map of Meade

About this map

Meade sits at the heart of this high-plains landscape, serving as a vital hub where the Chicago Rock Island and Pacific Railroad cuts a diagonal path toward the northeast. Surveyed just decades after the region was opened to homesteading, the map reveals a network of small, emerging prairie settlements like Fowler, Jasper, and Odee. The drainage of Crooked Creek meanders through the northern townships, providing a critical water source in an area defined by its wide, open flats and occasional draws. To the south, the terrain descends toward the Cimarron River, which marks the lower boundary of the survey. The placement of early post offices and townsites such as Cash City and Atwater reflects the late nineteenth-century push to establish permanent communities along the rail lines and creek beds of southwest Kansas.