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1903 Map of Tell City

Name: 1903 Topographic Map of Tell City
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1934
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1934

About this map

The Ohio River dominates this turn-of-the-century landscape, acting as a winding border between Indiana and Kentucky. On the northern banks, the industrial centers of Tell City and Troy are served by the Southern R.R. (Cannellton Branch), while the Kentucky side features the prominent riverfront settlement of Hawesville. The interior of the Kentucky side is defined by a dense network of creek valleys, including Blackford Creek and Caney Creek, which create a complex topography that historically isolated small communities like Knottsville, St. Lawrence, and Pellville.

Transport patterns of the era are clearly visible, with the Louisville Henderson and St. Louis railroad hugging the river's southern shoreline through Lewisport and Waitman. This survey illustrates the contrast between the organized riverfront towns and the scattered rural homesteads of the interior hills, such as those near Spice Knob and Indian Hill. Geologists John H. Renshawe and Chas. E. Cooke documented this region before the modern modifications to the river's hydrology, preserving the original appearance of features like Corn Island Slough.