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1950 Map of Paw Paw

Name: 1950 Topographic Map of Paw Paw
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1967
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1967

About this map

The Potomac River winds in dramatic oxbows through the Appalachian ridges of West Virginia and Maryland on this 1950 survey. The town of Paw Paw sits at the base of Bevan Hill, where the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad traces the riverbank alongside the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal (Abandoned). This landscape is a crossroads of nineteenth-century transportation infrastructure, showing the parallel paths of the canal and the Western Maryland Railway as they navigate the narrow water gaps.

Upland from the river, small settlements and family landmarks such as Little Orleans and Magnolia dot the terrain. For genealogists and local historians, the map preserves the locations of rural infrastructure like the Milo School, Sulphur Springs Ch, and numerous burial grounds including Camp Hill Cem and Dyche Cem. The intricate topography of Green Ridge and Sideling Hill reveals how the mountain hollows, such as Devils Alley Hollow, shaped the early road networks and settlement patterns of Morgan and Allegany counties.