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1903 Map of Sullivan

Name: 1903 Topographic Map of Sullivan
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1916
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1916

About this map

Sullivan stands as a focal point in this early twentieth-century Missouri landscape, where the confluence of early rail routes and numerous river crossings defined local commerce. The map reveals an intricate network of river fords along the Meramec and Bourbeuse rivers, including Ben Harrison Ford, Fisher Ford, and Allen Ford, which served as vital transit points before the widespread construction of bridges. Small rural communities like Japan, Spring Bluff, and Rosebud are shown as they were when serving as the primary social and economic hubs for the surrounding farmsteads.

Water sources were clearly paramount to the settlers of Gasconade and Franklin Counties, as evidenced by the careful labeling of Wildcat Spring, McDade Spr., and Rock Spring. These features, alongside the varied terrain of the Oak Hill and Brush Creek districts, illustrate a region transition between open prairie and the deeply dissected valleys of the Ozark foothills during the years following the turn of the century.