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1953 Map of New Kensington East

Name: 1953 Topographic Map of New Kensington East
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1955
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1955

About this map

The Allegheny River defines the industrial and topographic character of this 1953 landscape, with the riverfront towns of Natrona, Brackenridge, and Tarentum showing dense urban development alongside the Pennsylvania railroad line. Inland, the terrain rises into the dissected plateaus of Lower Burrell and Upper Burrell, where the map reveals a shift from industrial riverfronts to emerging suburban tracts and scattered rural settlements.

Substantial land use for resource extraction is evident through numerous labels for Strip Mines and Gas Wells throughout the hills. Civic life is anchored by local institutions like Har Brack High Sch, Allegheny Valley Hospital, and the Greenwood Memorial Park Cemetery. From the river navigation infrastructure at Lock and Dam No 4 to the smaller hamlets of Kinlock and Merwin, this survey documents a period of postwar expansion where heavy industry and residential growth coexist with the region's complex geography.