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1966 Map of Merom

Name: 1966 Topographic Map of Merom
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1987
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1987

About this map

The Wabash River serves as the winding boundary between Indiana and Illinois, shaping a landscape of fertile bottomlands and alluvial islands like Merom Island and Eagle Island. On the Indiana side, the town of Merom sits prominently atop The Bluff, overlooking the broad river valley and the low-lying Minnow Slough. This position above the floodplains historically protected the settlement while providing a vantage point over the river's commerce and the tracks of the Illinois Central Gulf railroad.

Genealogists will find several family and community burial grounds, including the Old French Cem and Massey Cem near the river, along with the Bennett Cem further east. The Illinois side features the town of Palestine, where a concentrated grid of streets, a High Sch, and a Mine Dump indicate an era of industrial and educational activity. From the northern reaches of Turman Creek to the southern Sugar Creek, the map captures a rural landscape defined by levee systems and various gravel pits and oil wells.