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1888 Map of Scottsboro

Name: 1888 Topographic Map of Scottsboro
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1888
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1888

About this map

The Cumberland Plateau dominates this late nineteenth-century landscape, where rugged topography dictated the path of early development in northeast Alabama. This period finds the Tennessee River serving as a vital transport corridor, marked by numerous family-named river access points including Caldwell's Ferry and Larkin's Landing. The region's early industrial and social hubs are anchored by landmarks like Bell Factory and Carrick's Mill, while the arrival of the Memphis and Charleston Railroad provided the necessary pulse for inland growth.

Small mountain communities and coves such as Maynard's Cove and Kennamer Cove illustrate the dispersed settlement patterns common before major twentieth-century infrastructure changes. From the northern Tennessee Alabama Boundary Line down through Scottsboro, the map details a world of creek-side hamlets and junctions like Owen's Cross Roads and Gurley, where the agricultural and timber economies of the day were inextricably linked to the intricate drainages of the Paint Rock River and its many forks.