1893 Map of Mound City

About this map

Marais Des Cygnes River meanders through the heart of Linn County, defining a landscape dominated by the convergence of several major nineteenth-century rail lines. Surveyed in the 1880s, the map reveals the critical junctions at Pleasanton and Mound City, where the Kansas City Fort Scott and Gulf Railroad and the St Louis Emporia and Western Railroad facilitated the transport of cattle and agricultural goods. Smaller settlements like Farlinville and New Lancaster anchor the rural townships, while the border with Missouri is clearly delineated to the east near Hume. The terrain is etched with numerous smaller drainages, such as Big Sugar Creek and Little Sugar Creek, which influenced the placement of early homesteads and road networks in this productive section of the Kansas-Missouri borderlands.