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1936 Map of Virginia

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

USGS Topo · Published 1936

About this map

Virginia and Ashland anchor this 1930s landscape where the agricultural plains of central Illinois meet the breaks of the Sangamon Valley. The rail network of the Baltimore and Ohio and the Alton lines provided the primary economic arteries for grain and livestock transport, connecting small shipping points like Philadelphia, Literberry, and Prentice. The map reveals an exceptionally dense system of rural education, with dozens of family-named schoolhouses such as Science Hill Sch, Brush College Sch, and Crows Point Sch distributed at nearly every section interval to serve the farmstead population.

Terrain features like Cavanaugh Bluff and Portuguese Hill provide local relief amidst the winding courses of Indian Creek and Mauvaise Terre Creek. Local history is preserved in the location of rural congregations at Eckman Chapel and Zion Ch, alongside established burial grounds like Walnut Ridge Cem and Yatesville Cem. The boundary between Cass Co and Morgan Co bisects the southern half, marking the division of these historic prairie townships.