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1950 Map of Mulberry

Name: 1950 Topographic Map of Mulberry
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1950
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1950

About this map

Strip Mines dominate the topography of the Kansas-Missouri border region, carving out a specialized industrial landscape between Mulberry and Liberal. The map captures a high density of small company towns and settlements, such as Red Onion, Coalvale, and Croweburg, which grew around the coal extraction efforts. The transportation network is defined by the St Louis - San Francisco and Kansas City Southern railroads, which served as the primary conduits for moving the region's mineral wealth.

Beyond the industrial zones, a traditional rural infrastructure remains visible through dozens of family-named schools and churches. Locations like McKill Chapel and Heaviside Cem provide valuable touchstones for genealogists, while the presence of Camp 50 and Franklin illustrates the labor history of Crawford County. This survey reflects a mid-century moment when the local economy was still deeply tethered to the subsurface resources and the rail lines that connected these border towns to larger markets.