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1940 Map of Nehawka

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

USGS Topo · Published 1940

About this map

The Missouri River defines this 1940 survey of the Nebraska-Iowa borderlands, snaking through a wide floodplain where Noddleman Island and Goose Island break the current. On the Nebraska bluffs, a dense network of country schoolhouses like Cottonwood Sch, Jean Sch, and New Hope Sch reflects a rural population at its peak, centered around agricultural hubs like Murray and Nehawka. The landscape is etched with local history, from the Youngs Cem and East Union Cem to the early commercial presence of Sargents Spur along the rail lines.

Industrial and transport patterns of the mid-20th century are evident in the dual rail corridors of the Missouri Pacific and the Chicago Burlington and Quincy. In the Iowa bottomlands to the east, the engineering of the landscape is visible through an extensive drainage system including Pony Creek Ditch and Waubonsie Creek Ditch, vital for managing the fertile but flood-prone plains near Bartlett and Thurman.