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1953 Map of Norfolk

Name: 1953 Topographic Map of Norfolk
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1954
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1954

About this map

Dismal Swamp dominates the central landscape of this mid-century survey, a wilderness interior bounded by the expanding urban footprints of Norfolk, Portsmouth, and Suffolk. The map reveals a region heavily defined by its transition from the deep woods and peat bogs surrounding Lake Drummond to the bustling maritime gateways of Chesapeake Bay. The industrial and military significance of Hampton Roads is evident in the dense concentration of naval installations and the spiderweb of rail lines like the Seaboard Air Line RR and Norfolk Southern RY converging on the coast.

Southward into North Carolina, the terrain opens into a network of river-oriented settlements including Elizabeth City on the Pasquotank River and Edenton on the Albemarle Sound. Beyond the coastal cities, rural life is marked by small community anchors such as Gethsemane Ch and Rosemary Ch, alongside state institutions like the Caledonia State Prison Farm. The coastal fringe, including Cape Henry and Seashore State Park, showcases the early development of the modern Atlantic shoreline before late-century suburbanization.