1961 Map of Spruce

About this map

The small community of Ballard serves as a focal point in this 1961 field-checked survey of rural Bates County, Missouri. The landscape is defined by the drainage basins of the Elk Fork and Deepwater Creek, where wooded margins break up the agricultural plateaus of the Shawnee, Spruce, and Summit townships. This map is particularly valuable for genealogical research, documenting a high density of small family or community burial grounds, including Walnut Grove Cem, Antioch Cem, and Radford Cem. The social fabric of the era is evident in the presence of local institutions like Ballard High Sch and Summit Sch, alongside rural congregations at Fairview Ch and Bethel Ch. A singular Quarry indicates localized industrial activity amidst a predominantly agrarian layout, while the network of creeks like Antioch Creek and Fishing Branch reveals the natural hydrology before modern land-use changes.