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1886 Map of Springfield

Name: 1886 Topographic Map of Springfield
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1901
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1901

About this map

Springfield serves as the central hub of this 1880s survey, showing a detailed street grid where three major rail lines converge. The St. Louis and San Francisco Railroad and the Kansas City and Scott Railroad anchor the regional economy, connecting the city to outlying towns like Republic and Stafford. The landscape is defined by the Ozark Plateau drainage, where the Sac River and Little Pomme de Terre River flow through a patchwork of rural townships.

Local history researchers can find numerous small settlements that preceded the modern suburban sprawl of the region, including Ebenezer, Cave Spring, and Brighton. To the south, Ozark sits along Finley Creek, while the eastern portion of the sheet highlights the rugged hills around Panther Valley and Henderson. The map preserves the original township structure, from Robberson in the north to Linden in the south, providing a look at the county's organization before the turn of the century.