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1958 Map of Racine

Name: 1958 Topographic Map of Racine
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1971
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1971

About this map

Lake Michigan dominates the center of this mid-century survey, dividing the industrial corridors of southeast Wisconsin and northeast Illinois from the fruit-growing and timbered shores of western Michigan. On the western shore, the urban expansion from Milwaukee south through Racine and Kenosha to the northern edge of Chicago is clearly marked by a dense grid of infrastructure and military installations. Key landmarks such as the Naval Training Center Great Lakes and Fort Sheridan underscore the strategic importance of this coastline during the Cold War era.

Across the water, the Michigan landscape offers a distinct contrast, defined by natural landmarks like the Van Buren Bluffs and the sprawling Allegan State Forest. Smaller coastal settlements such as South Haven and the resort areas near Holland are connected by a network of rivers, including the Kalamazoo River and Paw Paw River. This map captures a specific moment when post-war suburban growth began to merge these historic lakefront communities into a continuous metropolitan belt on the western side, while the eastern shore maintained its focus on recreation and natural resources.