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1893 Map of Sunbury

Name: 1893 Topographic Map of Sunbury
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1940
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1940

About this map

The confluence of the West Branch Susquehanna River and the main branch of the Susquehanna River dominates this landscape, where the towns of Sunbury and Northumberland established themselves as critical river-and-rail junctions. Surveyed in 1891, the map documents a complex industrial transportation network, featuring the Penn Canal running parallel to the water and several major rail lines, including the Catawissa Div. and the Sunbury and Lewistown R.R.. This infrastructure supported the movement of goods between the Central Pennsylvania coalfields and the valley’s agricultural centers.

Moving inland from the river valleys, the terrain rises into prominent ridges such as Shamokin Mt. and Montour Mountain. Smaller settlements like Lewisburg, home to Bucknell, and New Berlin are connected by a web of local roads and smaller waterways like Penns Creek and Buffalo Creek. The map preserves the 19th-century township structure, detailing boundaries for Chillisquaque, East Buffalo, and Lower Augusta, providing a clear view of the region’s development before mid-20th-century expansion changed the rural character of the land.