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1940 Map of Shooks Gap

Name: 1940 Topographic Map of Shooks Gap
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1947
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1947

About this map

The French Broad River and Holston River converge here to form the Tennessee River, a critical geographic junction surveyed just before the construction of Fort Loudoun Dam was set to alter the western water levels. This landscape is a complex network of river islands and shoals, including Pickel Island, Boyd Island, and the treacherous McNutt Shoals. The era's river-dependent economy is visible through the Riverdale Ferry and the Boyd Bridge, providing essential crossings for rural communities like Marbledale and Asbury.

Social and educational life in the 1940s is anchored by numerous country schools and churches, such as the Dora Kennedy Sch and Hendron Chapel. At Kimberlin Heights, the Johnson Bible College overlooks the river bend, while industrial activity is marked by Meades Quarry near the Knoxville city boundary. To the south, the terrain rises into Brown Mountain and the Bays Mountain range, where smaller settlements like Neubert and Shooks sit along the Southern railroad line.