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1898 Map of Oceana

Name: 1898 Topographic Map of Oceana
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1898
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1898

About this map

Oceana and Pineville anchor this 1890s survey of southern West Virginia, illustrating a landscape of tight hollows and high ridges before the widespread industrialization of the region. The map captures the Guyandotte River watershed and the headwaters of the Coal River during a period of small, scattered settlements like Cyclone, Christian, and Baileysville. It is a world organized by water and high terrain, where travel relied on gaps such as Hazy Gap, Walnut Gap, and Twisted Gun Gap.

Complex county boundaries define the area, showing where Logan, Wyoming, Boone, Raleigh, and Mingo counties meet along natural divides like Cherry Pond Mountain and Huff Mountain. For those researching local family history or land use, the map documents numerous named branches and forks, including Jarrells Fork and Sand Lick Br., which served as the primary landmarks for rural life at the end of the nineteenth century.