1966 Map of Spring Valley

About this map

The Illinois River serves as a critical geographic divide on this sheet, separating the industrial and residential hubs of Spring Valley and Peru from the agricultural and mining terrain to the south. In the late 1960s, this region was a complex intersection of heavy rail and local industry, with the Chicago Burlington and Quincy and Chicago Rock Island and Pacific railroads threading through the river valley. The landscape is marked by the legacy of resource extraction, specifically seen in the mine dumps near Granville and Mark, and the mine dump just north of Dalzell. Notable local institutions include St. Bede College and Hopkins High School, while numerous cemeteries like St. Valentines Cem and Mt Olivet Cem provide essential data points for genealogical research in this multi-ethnic Illinois coal and river valley corridor.