1954 Map of Tilford

About this map

Louisville and Nashville tracks run alongside the winding waters of Leatherwood Creek and Line Fork, marking the industrial lifeline of this mid-century Appalachian landscape. This 1954 field-checked survey reveals a series of small hollow settlements and mining-era communities concentrated near the railroad and local branch waters. Significant local landmarks include rural schoolhouses like Daisy Sch and Holcomb Sch, alongside several mountain churches such as Big Leatherwood Ch and Stony Fork Ch. The terrain is characterized by intricate drainage patterns from Defeated Creek to Little Leatherwood Creek, where the boundary lines of Perry, Letcher, and Harlan counties converge. The map documents the precise location of family-named branches and small settlements like Slemp, Beehive, and Tilford before further decades of change in the eastern Kentucky coalfields.