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1950 Map of Medina

Name: 1950 Topographic Map of Medina
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1956
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1956

About this map

The Erie Canal cuts through the northern portion of this landscape, supporting established canal-side communities like Middleport, Shelby Basin, and the village of Medina. This waterway, shadowed by the New York Central Railroad and Knowlesville Station, reflects the era's critical transportation corridor between Buffalo and Rochester. To the south, the terrain shifts dramatically into the Oak Orchard Swamp, a massive wetland that includes the State Game Refuge and the Upper Stafford Marsh, indicating the area's significance for conservation and water management mid-century.

Historically significant landmarks are scattered across the rural township, including the Site of Neuter Fort near Shelby and the Tonawanda Indian Reservation in the southwest corner. The reservation land features the Council House and Tonawanda Indian Community Center along Bloomingdale Road. Local genealogy is well-represented through dozens of numbered schoolhouses and family cemeteries like Boxwood Cem and Millville Cem, capturing the distributed rural social structure before the expansion of the New York State Thruway changed the region's pace.