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1954 Map of Olmsted

Name: 1954 Topographic Map of Olmsted
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1955
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1955

About this map

Ohio River navigation and the complex wetland ecology of the river bottoms dominate this mid-century survey along the Illinois-Kentucky border. The landscape is defined by the Lock and Dam No 53 and the Grand Chain, a treacherous stretch of river where the limestone shelf created natural hazards for river traffic. Inland, the topography shifts into the Oscar Bottoms and Barlow Bottoms, a dense network of seasonal waterways and standing water such as Shelby Lake, Mud Lake, and Beaverdam Slough.

Social life in this river-oriented community centered around the small settlement of Oscar, where the Oscar Ch served local families. Further east near the county line, the New Hope Ch stands as another landmark for genealogical research. The map captures the agricultural drainage patterns of the era, with numerous named sloughs and creeks like Clanton Creek illustrating how the local population managed the fertile but flood-prone river plains.