1984 Map of Tawas City

About this map

Wurtsmith Air Force Base dominates the shoreline landscape north of Oscoda, serving as a major Cold War-era military hub on the western edge of Lake Huron. This 1980s landscape reveals the extensive hydro-power developments along the Au Sable River, where a sequence of impoundments including Loud Dam Pond and Cooke Dam Pond provided energy for the region's growth. The economic backbone of the corridor is clearly defined by the Detroit and Mackinac RR, which links the industrial sites at Alabaster with coastal settlements like Tawas City and Au Sable. Inland, the map captures a transition from the dense timberlands of the Huron National Forest to the agricultural and mining districts of Whittemore and Turner. Scattered Quarries and Gravel Pit operations near Grant and Whitney suggest the area's continued reliance on natural resource extraction.