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1891 Map of Pottsville

Name: 1891 Topographic Map of Pottsville
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1909
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1909

About this map

Pottsville anchors this 1889 survey as a major industrial node at the confluence of the Schuylkill River and Pottsville Branch. The landscape is defined by the rigid geological folds of Sharp Mountain and Second Mountain, which directed the paths of the region's early infrastructure. A dense network of transport, including the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad and the Peoples Railroad, follows the river valleys to connect coal-era settlements like St. Clair, Port Carbon, and New Philadelphia.

The survey captures the area before modern expansion, highlighting the distinct rural-industrial character of Schuylkill County. Notable for genealogists are the numerous small junctions and villages such as Adamsdale, Landingville, and Friedensburg. To the south, the terrain levels as it approaches the Boundary Line between Schuylkill and Berks counties, where the ridges of Blue Mountain dominate the southern horizon above Shartlesville.