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1940 Map of Monegaw Springs

Name: 1940 Topographic Map of Monegaw Springs
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1940
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1940

About this map

Osage River winds through this rural landscape in St. Clair County, anchoring a terrain defined by many small rural school districts and family-named landmarks. The settlement of Monegaw Springs sits near the river's edge, characterized by local geography such as Youngers Lookout and Spring Lake. This 1938 survey illustrates a densely populated backcountry where small community centers like Chalk Level served as local hubs, each supported by its own institutions like the Chalk Level Ch and Chalk Level Sch.

Genealogists will find significant value in the distribution of family-centered burial grounds and schools, including the Mockbee Cem, Yeater Cem, and Benton Green Cem. The map's detailed labeling of ten separate schools, such as Lewellen Sch and Pleasant Valley Sch, reveals the early 20th-century social structure of the Missouri countryside before the consolidation of rural school districts. Creeks like Gallinipper Creek and Little Monegaw Creek carve through the townships, shaping the location of early farmsteads and road crossings.