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2019 Map of Swan Island

Name: 2019 Topographic Map of Swan Island
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 2019
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 2019

About this map

Clinch River meanders through the heart of this East Tennessee landscape, shaping the eponymous Swan Island and creating navigable challenges at Thirty-mile Shoals and Clouds Shoals. The terrain is defined by a series of parallel ridges including Copper Ridge and War Ridge, which separate fertile valleys where small settlements like Bray and Lawson Mill took root. The geography reveals a community structured around these waterways and high ground, with numerous family burial grounds such as Barnard Cem and Big Hill Cem marking the legacy of local landowners across the ridges.

Local industry and transport are reflected in the naming of features like Lawson Bend and the network of roads following the natural contours of Cantwell Valley. Further south, the settlement of Fairview sits near the border of Grainger and Hawkins Counties, illustrating the complex intersection of jurisdictional lines in this Appalachian corridor. The detailed topographic relief highlights the contrast between the low-lying Broken Valley and the prominent heights of Troublesome Ridge.