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1904 Map of Parkersburg

Name: 1904 Topographic Map of Parkersburg
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1935
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1935

About this map

Blennerhassett Island sits prominently in the Ohio River at the turn of the century, serving as a focal point for this borderland survey between West Virginia and Ohio. The landscape is defined by the sharp confluence of the Little Kanawha River and the Ohio, where the growing hub of Parkersburg is flanked by satellite settlements like Beechwood, Riverside, and Lauchport. Across the water, the town of Belpre and the adjacent Rockland and Center Belpre developments mark the industrial and residential expansion along the riverbanks.

Transportation networks of the Baltimore and Ohio R. R. and its Ohio River Division track the river’s path, connecting riverside hamlets such as Constitution and Gravelbank. Further inland, the dissected terrain is dotted with small rural communities and local industry, from Browns Mill on Wolf Creek to the upland crossroads of Watertown and Decaturville. The map captures a transition from traditional mill-sites to a more integrated river-and-rail economy.