1952 Map of Sardis

About this map

The Tallahatchie River and its fork dominate this northern Mississippi landscape, recently transformed by the engineering of the Sardis Dam. At the time of this mid-century survey, the massive Sardis Lake had established a new shoreline, creating recreation areas like Sardis Lake State Park and Lower Lake Beach while submerged lands were repurposed for conservation. Along the southern bank, the Illinois Central Railroad serves the regional hubs of Sardis and Batesville, providing a vital transit corridor for the agricultural valley. The map is exceptionally dense with community landmarks that provide significant genealogical value, including a high concentration of combined church and school sites such as Walton Chapel Sch & Cem and Rock Hill Ch Sch & Cem. These clusters, alongside family-named landmarks like Moccasin Point and Thompson Creek Ldg, reveal the deeply rooted rural social structure of Panola County during the early 1950s.