Loading map...

1946 Map of Sewanee

Name: 1946 Topographic Map of Sewanee
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1959
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1959

About this map

The University of the South and the Sewanee Military Academy anchor this mid-century topographic survey of the southern Cumberland Plateau. The landscape is defined by dramatic elevation changes where the plateau drops into deep recesses like Lost Cove and Hawkins Cove. This rugged geography necessitated impressive engineering feats for the era, most notably the Nashville Chattanooga and St Louis railway and the subterranean Cowan Tunnel near the western edge of the sheet.

Local family history is preserved through numerous rural burial grounds and smaller settlements, including St Marys Cem, Bennett Cem, and Montgomery Cem. These sites, along with small community hubs like St Andrews Sch and the Rowark Cove Sch, illustrate the pattern of upland settlement before later 20th-century development altered the character of the region. Distinctive landmarks such as the Natural Bridge and University View War Memorial highlight the intersection of natural geology and institutional history.