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1925 Map of Taylorville

Name: 1925 Topographic Map of Taylorville
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1925
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1925

About this map

Taylorville and its surrounding central Illinois prairie land appear at a moment of transition in the mid-1920s, characterized by a dense network of rural schoolhouses and the expansion of the rail system. The South Fork Sangamon River and Bear Creek carve distinct paths through the landscape, providing natural drainage for the agricultural terrain of Christian Co. The influence of the coal and rail industries is evident in the cluster of mining and transit hubs like Kincaid, Bulpitt, and Humphrey Sta, alongside the Chicago and Illinois Midland tracks.

Local education is remarkably granular, with dozens of family and neighborhood-named schoolhouses such as Hedge College School, American School, and Montgomery School serving small townships like Mt Auburn and Buckhart. These small sites, many of which would later consolidate or disappear, provide essential landmarks for genealogists and local historians tracing the exact locations of early 20th-century communities like Sharpsburg, Edinburg, and Grove City.