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1949 Map of Rackett

Name: 1949 Topographic Map of Rackett
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1976
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1976

About this map

The western edge of the Crescent Lake National Wildlife Refuge anchors this landscape of the Nebraska Sandhills, where a pattern of isolated ranches and small country schools defined mid-century rural life. This 1949 survey documents a series of named valleys and flats, such as Phillips Flats and Bennett Valley, which supported grazing operations including the Keenan Ranch and Rounsburg Ranch. The map reveals the critical importance of water and shelter in this environment, marking numerous camps and wells like Wells Camp and Peterson Camp alongside the winding course of Blue Creek.

Genealogists will find particular value in the distribution of one-room schoolhouses, including South Sch No 71 and Well Valley Sch, which served the sparse population of the Garden and Grant County borderlands. The transition from the high ground at Wildhorse Hill down to the creek bottom at Gusher Spring illustrates the hydrological necessity that dictated the placement of early 20th-century homesteads and ranching outposts.