1980 Map of Union

About this map

The Bourbeuse River carves a winding path through the heart of Franklin County, defining the agricultural and wooded landscape south of the county seat. This 1980 orthophotomap provides a clear aerial view of the region's rural development, where patchwork fields and timbered ridges surround established settlements like Krakow and Jefferiesburg. The imagery illustrates how local commerce and residential growth clustered near the town of Union, while more remote outposts like Neier remained tied to the land. This transition period captures the area's geography just as modern infrastructure began to weave more tightly through the traditional farmsteads and waterways like St Johns Creek. The map is particularly useful for observing property lines and land use patterns that shifted as the suburban influence of the St. Louis corridor reached further into the Missouri countryside.