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1919 Map of Suffolk

Name: 1919 Topographic Map of Suffolk
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1944
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1944

About this map

Suffolk serves as the industrial and transit hub of this 1918 survey, where several major rail lines including the Virginian Railway, Seaboard Air Line, and Norfolk and Western converge near the Nansemond River. The landscape transitions from the urban rail center into the expansive wetlands of the Dismal Swamp, defined by hydraulic engineering features like the Washington Ditch and Jericho Canal.

Rural life is meticulously documented through family-named landmarks and local institutions, including Purvis Sta Buckhorn PO and numerous small schoolhouses such as Noah Howell School and Baines Hill School. The map captures a complex system of pocosin terrain, with features like Daughtrey Pocoson and Hall Pocoson interspersed with small settlements like Whaleyville and Nunneysville. This survey preserves the early 20th-century geography of the Virginia-North Carolina border before modern development altered the swamp's character.