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1948 Map of St. David

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

USGS Topo · Published 1948

About this map

Industrial activity and rural education define this landscape just west of the Illinois River in the late 1940s. Large-scale Strip Mine operations dominate the northern townships of Putman and Buckheart, carving into the terrain around St David and Dunfermline. This heavy extraction industry exists alongside a dense network of one-room schoolhouses, including Morning Star Sch, Science Hill Sch, and Elm Tree Sch, which served the farming families of Liverpool and Lewistown townships.

Transport is anchored by the Chicago Burlington and Quincy railroad, which links the coal-rich uplands to the river bottomlands. Near the junction of Big Creek and the river, the Tampico Mounds stand as distinct landmarks above the Levee systems. The map captures a specific transition in Illinois history, where the ancient topography of the Illinois River valley meets the mechanized footprint of the mid-century coal boom.