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1939 Map of Morley

Name: 1939 Topographic Map of Morley
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1942
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1942

About this map

The engineered landscape of the Mississippi Valley in Missouri is defined here by an intricate system of drainage works and flood control infrastructure. Managed under the jurisdiction of the War Department and Corps of Engineers, the region features the massive Headwater Diversion Channel and numerous numbered ditches, such as Ditch No 17 and Ditch No 8, which reclaimed land from the Old Caney Basin.

Settlement patterns follow the intersection of topography and transportation, with towns like Chaffee, Benton, and Morley situated along the tracks of the St Louis San Francisco and Missouri Pacific railroads. The map records several rural schools serving these agricultural communities, including Hunter Sch and Hooe Sch, providing a detailed look at the social geography of the area just before the mid-century. Distinctive elevations like Cox Hill and Lost Hill stand out against the heavily modified drainage of the surrounding flats.