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1890 Map of Moberly

Name: 1890 Topographic Map of Moberly
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1890
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1890

About this map

The growing rail hub of Moberly anchors this late nineteenth-century landscape, where a dense network of iron and steel corridors defines the region’s economic life. Three major rail lines converge here: the Missouri Pacific Railroad, the Wabash Railroad, and the Chicago and Alton Railroad. This confluence of transportation turned small prairie outposts into essential freight stops, as seen in the growth of Sturgeon, Centralia, and Renick.

Beyond the tracks, the terrain is carved by the complex drainage of the Middle Fork Salt River and the South Fork Salt River. While larger towns follow the rail grades, earlier rural settlements like Middle Grove and Dripping Spring remain tied to the river systems and local creek branches. For the genealogist, the map preserves the precise locations of nineteenth-century post offices and hamlets, such as Larrabee, Elliott, and Stephen, many of which were small crossroads serving the agrarian Boone and Randolph County populations.