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1968 Map of Townsend

Name: 1968 Topographic Map of Townsend
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1991
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1991

About this map

The southern tip of the Virginia Eastern Shore is defined here by a complex landscape of coastal defense installations and historic bayside settlements. The Cold War presence is palpable at the Cape Charles Air Force Sta and the U S Naval Communications Sta, which sit adjacent to the small hamlets of Townsend and Magotha. On the Chesapeake side, the rail influence persists at Latimer Siding near Kiptopeke, where a Toll Road and Tollgate once managed traffic toward the ferry landings.

Further inland, the rural character of Northampton County is preserved through a network of family-named sites like Parsons and Dalbys, anchored by the Lower Northampton Ch. The geography is a labyrinth of tidal marshes and waterways, including Mockhorn Bay and The Thoroughfare, which separate the mainland from the barrier environments of Mockhorn Island and Smith Island. This 1968 survey, with bathymetric data added later, captures the area before modern preservation and development altered its mid-century maritime and military footprint.