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1948 Map of Spade Ranch

Name: 1948 Topographic Map of Spade Ranch
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1976
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1976

About this map

Spade Ranch and the tiny settlement of Argo anchor this 1940s landscape, characterized by an intricate system of valleys and depressions in the Nebraska Sandhills. The area is dotted with numerous small bodies of water, from the large Mother Lake in the south to Smith Lake, Spring Lake, and Bunger Lake. These water sources define the agricultural patterns of the region, where ranching interests are spread across named terrain features like White Valley, Willow Valley, and Wolford Valley.

Rural education was decentralized during this era, evidenced by a network of numbered schoolhouses including School No 131, School No 161, and School No 158, alongside named facilities like the Hill Crest Sch. Landowners and genealogists can trace the topography through family-named landmarks such as McAlister Lake, Kinney Lake, and Sandoz Lake, providing a clear view of the territorial organization before modern consolidation changed the rural social landscape.