1977 Map of South Hill SE

About this map

Lake Gaston dominates this 1970s orthophotoquad, where the impounded waters of the Roanoke River create a complex shoreline along the Virginia and North Carolina border. This specific survey was produced by the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the North Carolina Department of Natural and Economic Resources, utilizing aerial photography from March 1977. The imagery reveals the mid-century development of lakeside communities like Joyceville, where residential road networks begin to branch into the wooded peninsulas. Further inland, the map shows the rural character of Five Forks, surrounded by a patchwork of cleared agricultural fields and dense forest. The transition from traditional farming to a reservoir-based economy is visible in the contrast between the established inland road patterns and the newer, winding developments that hug the lake's many inlets.