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1978 Map of Turkville

Name: 1978 Topographic Map of Turkville
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1979
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1979

About this map

Turkville sits along the winding course of the Saline River in Ellis County, marking a landscape defined by 1970s energy extraction and rural infrastructure. The most prominent industrial feature is the Bemis Shutts Oil Field, which spans a significant portion of the terrain across the Catherine, Herzog, and Buckeye districts. The map provides a detailed view of the extensive network of secondary roads and field lines required to service numerous Oil Wells and Gravel Pits scattered throughout the river valley and upland breaks.

Evidence of early settlement persists in the form of the Norman Cem and the small collection of structures at Turkville. The topography transitions from the alluvial bottomlands of the river and Sweetwater Creek into the dissected uplands of the Kansas plains. This survey represents a period when traditional agriculture and intensive oil production operated side-by-side, recorded just before many of these rural field patterns were altered by changing land use.