1942 Map of Oakland

About this map

The Embarrass River carves a deep, wooded path through the prairie of Douglas and Coles Counties, defining the agricultural landscape of the early 1940s. While the western portion of the sheet is marked by the orderly grid of the Pennsylvania and Chicago and New York railroads, the eastern terrain near Oakland becomes increasingly dissected by tributaries like Brushy Fork and Hog Branch. This contrast illustrates the transition between the flat upland till plains and the more varied topography of the river valley.