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1908 Map of Seneca

Name: 1908 Topographic Map of Seneca
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1941
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1941

About this map

The Potomac River corridor serves as the primary artery for transport and commerce in this 1907 survey, where the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal hugs the Maryland shoreline across from Loudoun County. The landscape is defined by its transit networks, notably the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad and its Metropolitan Branch, which connect rural hubs like Boyds and Germantown to the broader region. River crossings remain vital to local movement, evidenced by Whites Ferry and Edwards Ferry, alongside numerous named landmasses such as Selden Island and Van Deventer Island.

Settlement patterns reveal a shift from older centers like Old Germantown to railroad-adjacent growth. South of the river in Virginia, the Southern Railway Bluemont Branch and the Leesburg and Dranesville Turnpike navigate the terrain toward Sterling and Dranesville. This map captures a moment before modern suburbanization, documenting agricultural villages like Darnestown, Poolesville, and Dawsonville as distinct rural communities.