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1945 Map of Salem

Name: 1945 Topographic Map of Salem
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1945
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1945

About this map

Large institutional complexes dominate the landscape of western Wayne County on the eve of post-war suburbanization. The Detroit House of Correction and the Wayne County Training School occupy significant acreage in the south, while a dedicated Sanitarium sits further north near the county line. These facilities were central to the regional infrastructure of the era, situated amidst a grid of rural section roads like Eight Mile Rd (Base Line Rd) and Seven Mile Rd (Fishery Rd).

One-room schoolhouses such as Putman Sch, Stone Sch, and Thayer Sch serve the farming communities of Lyon and Novi. The Pere Marquette railroad cuts through the terrain, connecting small hubs like West Novi to the larger industrial networks. This map documents a transitional period when established agrarian landmarks like the Bob-O-Link Golf Club still shared the landscape with family-named drains and rural junctions.