1935 Map of Trout Dale

About this map

Unaka National Forest dominates the terrain of this 1935 Tennessee Valley Authority and USGS advance sheet, where the high ridges of the Unaka Mountains and Iron Mountain converge. The survey illustrates a mid-1930s mountain landscape at the border of Smyth and Grayson Counties, defined by a network of early motor routes and footpaths. The Appalachian Trail winds through the southern portion of the sheet, crossing high points near Locust Ridge and Comers Creek. Transport corridors like the J.E.B. Stuart Highway and U.S. Highway No 58 suggest the era's focus on connecting these once-isolated highlands. Numerous family-named drainage features, such as Mullins Branch, Houndshell Branch, and Slabtown Br, provide specific geographic markers for genealogists tracing ancestral land in this part of southwest Virginia.