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1957 Map of Parkersburg

Name: 1957 Topographic Map of Parkersburg
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1958
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1958

About this map

Parkersburg and its neighboring riverfront towns are documented here in the mid-1950s, a period of significant post-war industrial and suburban expansion along the Ohio River. The convergence of the Little Kanawha River and the Ohio serves as the primary anchor for the region's development, with Parkersburg and Belpre facing each other across the state line. Detailed street grids and named avenues like Grand Central Avenue and Murdoch Ave indicate the growing density of Vienna and the central urban core.

Institutional and community landmarks are abundant, including numerous neighborhood schools such as Nash Sch and Emerson Sch, and multiple radio towers like Wpar and Wcom that broadcast to the valley. The map also captures several historic river features, including Lock No 18 and the expansive Blennerhassett Island. Outside the urban centers, family cemeteries and churches like Cutler Chapel and Hiatt Cem dot the landscape of Warren and Barlow, providing essential data for genealogical research into the local river valley families.