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1954 Map of Petroleum

Name: 1954 Topographic Map of Petroleum
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1995
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1995

About this map

Scottsville sits at the northern edge of this map, serving as a hub for the rolling terrain along the Kentucky-Tennessee border during the mid-20th century. Numerous Oil Wells dot the landscape near Rodemer Branch and Watkins Branch, indicating the localized petroleum extraction that gave the community of Petroleum its name. The map documents a dense network of rural infrastructure, from the Waterworks and hospital in the north to isolated country schools like Union Chapel Sch and Shady Grove Sch.

Religious and social life is anchored by a high concentration of named churches, including Macedonia Ch near the state line and Mt Carmel Ch further east. The drainage patterns of Trammel Creek and Bays Fork carve through the hills, while the transition between Allen and Macon counties marks the southern boundary. This map captures the region just as modern updates were being recorded over the established mid-century topographic data.