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1953 Map of Pe Ell

Name: 1953 Topographic Map of Pe Ell
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1955
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1955

About this map

The Chehalis River and Willapa River headwaters define the drainage of this Pacific Northwest timber and rail corridor during the early 1950s. The landscape is marked by the industrial footprints of the Northern Pacific and Chicago Milwaukee St Paul and Pacific railroads, which served the logging and quarrying interests of the region. Settlement clusters around local hubs like Pe Ell and Dryad, where the influence of the river system on development is clear.

Upland features such as Squaly Jim Ridge and Huckleberry Ridge separate the various creek valleys, while smaller named points like Charles Hump and Joy Mountain provide local orientation. Evidence of the area's transition is visible in an Old Railroad Grade north of Elk Creek, indicating shifts in the transportation network as the mid-century progressed. Numerous quarries dotted throughout the hills underscore the resource-extraction economy that sustained these rural communities.