1951 Map of Smithville

About this map

Smithville serves as the focal point of this 1951 survey, situated at the confluence of Second Creek and the winding Platte River. The landscape is characterized by a dense network of rural infrastructure, including a variety of one-room schoolhouses like Rocky Point School, Lott School, and Fry School that anchored these farming communities before the era of school consolidation. The topography is defined by numerous drainage systems such as Duncan Branch and Owens Branch that feed into the river valley, while early transportation links are marked by the Rice Bridge and Hixson Bridge. Genealogists will find considerable value in the identified family and community burial grounds, including the Reed Cemetery and Gaus Cemetery, as well as established centers of worship like Stony Point Church and Pleasant Hill Church. Smaller settlements like Trimble and Paradise provide further points of historical reference for this Clay and Clinton County borderland.