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1939 Map of Refuge

Name: 1939 Topographic Map of Refuge
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1961
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1961

About this map

The Mississippi River dominates this landscape, showing a critical transition era where massive engineering projects began to alter its historical course. The map documents significant man-made changes like the Tarpley Cut-Off (1935) and Leland Cut-Off (1933), while still recording the Meander Line 1830 that once defined the state boundary. On the eastern bank, the river city of Greenville serves as a hub for the Yazoo and Mississippi Valley Railroad, which snakes through the delta bottomlands to serve settlements like Metcalfe and Leland.

Local history is preserved in the location of several country churches and landmarks, including Mt Pleasant Ch, Macedonia Ch, and Pilgrims Rest Ch. The presence of Indian Mounds near Hunt and Metcalfe points to much older human habitation on the high ground of the delta. To the west, Lake Chicot and Luna Bar illustrate the complex relationship between the shifting river and the agricultural settlements of Luna and Sunnyside.