1918 Map of Twin Valley

About this map

The Wild Rice River winds through the heart of this 1918 military survey, defining the landscape of southern Norman County. This advance sheet, compiled by the Corps of Engineers, U.S. Army, provides a snapshot of the region just before it was formally mapped by the USGS in the 1920s. The Northern Pacific railroad corridor serves as the primary north-south artery, connecting the established settlements of Twin Valley, Heiberg, Gary, and Flaming. The map reveals a highly structured rural landscape divided into townships like Green Meadow and Strand, where a network of country schools and churches—such as the Betcher School and the White Ch. spire—anchored the early 20th-century farming community. Large water bodies like Lake Ida and Long Lake stand out in the western reaches of McDonaldsville, alongside a system of artificial drainage ditches used to manage the prairie wetlands.