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1930 Map of Middlesboro

Name: 1930 Topographic Map of Middlesboro
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1930
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1930

About this map

Cumberland Gap serves as the focal point of this tri-state survey, marking the historic mountain pass where Kentucky, Tennessee, and Virginia converge. The settlement of Middlesboro dominates the western valley, while to the south, the campus of Lincoln Memorial University sits near the base of the ridge in Harrogate. The landscape is a dense network of mountain ridges including Brush Mountain and Canada Mountain, carved by the Cumberland River in the north and the winding loops of the Powell River to the south.

Industrial and agricultural life is evidenced by the presence of Ellison Mill and Allen Mill along the riverbanks, and numerous rural schools such as Forge Ridge Sch and Moss Chapel Sch that dot the valleys. Significant rail infrastructure, including the Louisville and Nashville RR and the Southern Ry, snakes through the gaps, connecting early 20th-century coal and timber settlements like Wasioto and Colmar to the broader regional economy.