1961 Map of Sunrise

About this map

Sunrise and the surrounding drainage of Back Creek dominate this 1961 field-checked survey of the Virginia and West Virginia borderlands. The landscape is defined by the sharp divide between the George Washington National Forest and the Monongahela National Forest, with the state line cutting through the high ridges of Little Mountain. For the local historian, the map preserves the locations of rural infrastructure such as Zion Hill Ch and several family burying grounds, including Lightner Cem, Doyle Cem, and Sively Cem. The settlement pattern follows the narrow valley floors of the Jackson River and its numerous tributaries like Little Back Creek. Small mountain clearings and sites like Fodder House and Chestnut Levels suggest the persistence of small-scale upland agriculture and timbering in this remote section of Bath and Pocahontas counties.