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1936 Map of Union Hill

Name: 1936 Topographic Map of Union Hill
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1936
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1936

About this map

The agrarian landscape of the Alabama-Tennessee border comes into focus in this 1936 survey, just as the regional infrastructure began to shift under the Tennessee Valley Authority. Sugar Creek carves a central path through the terrain, flanked by a network of small family-centered settlements like Union Hill and Good Springs. The map documents a period of transition where traditional water-powered industry, such as Ridgeways Mill with its noted flume and the Mechanic Mill, existed alongside the newly rising waters of the Wheeler Reservoir.

Social and civic life is anchored by numerous small country schools and churches, including Bethel Ch, Bassham Chapel, and Carriger Sch. The topography is defined by intricate drainage systems like Scarce Grease Branch and Dobbins Branch, which dictated the placement of early roads and homes. The inclusion of the Tennessee Valley Authority Transmission Line provides a striking record of the modernization of the rural South during the mid-1930s.