1976 Map of Minturn

About this map

The Little Pee Dee River winds through this 1976 orthophoto, defining a landscape of dense bottomland timber and a mosaic of angular agricultural clearings. This aerial perspective, captured by the U.S. Geological Survey, shows the rural character of the borderlands between North and South Carolina. The settlement of Minturn and the junction at Crossroads anchor the local road network, which includes Route 57 and Route 83. Unlike a traditional topographic line drawing, this photographic record reveals the exact texture of the fields and forest canopies as they existed during the mid-1970s. The interplay of dark river swamps and bright, tilled land illustrates the long-standing agricultural dependence on the well-drained soils found adjacent to the river’s floodplains.