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1952 Map of Mendota

Name: 1952 Topographic Map of Mendota
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1954
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1954

About this map

The city of Mendota serves as a major rail hub in the early 1950s, where the Chicago Burlington and Quincy, Illinois Central, and Chicago and North Western railroads intersect. This confluence of transportation supported a dense network of agrarian settlements and community institutions across LaSalle, Lee, and Bureau Counties. Genealogists will find a wealth of specific landmarks, including numerous family and church cemeteries such as Restland Cem, Holy Cross Cem, and Erbes Cem.

Notable rural infrastructure includes several country schools like Schlesinger Sch and Gorman Sch, alongside features marked as no longer in active use, such as Bauer Sch (Abandoned). The landscape is also defined by the historical Indian Boundary line cutting through the Mendota area. Beyond the town centers of West Brooklyn, Compton, and Sublette, the terrain is drained by systems like Bureau Creek and Willow Creek, reflecting the established mid-century drainage patterns of northern Illinois.