1955 Map of Wakefield NE

About this map

The Chicago and North Western railway cuts a diagonal line through the wooded landscape of the Ottawa National Forest, defining the industrial and transportation corridor of this Upper Peninsula region in the mid-1950s. Small rail-aligned settlements like Hartley and Dunham appear as quiet outposts within the Marenisco and Bessemer districts. The terrain is dominated by the prominent rise of Wolf Mountain and a complex network of waterways, including the Presque Isle River and its various tributaries such as Brotherton Creek and Jackson Creek. Locally significant industrial activity is noted at the Gravel Pits near Dunham, while the northern reaches of the map show the branching flow of the Little Presque Isle River through the Wakefield District. The map captures a moment when timber management and the railroad remained the primary drivers of the local geography before more modern developments altered these remote forest communities.