1931 Map of Walkerville NW

About this map

Walkerville anchors the northeastern portion of this survey, which documents the rural landscape of Oceana County during the early 1930s. The region is defined by a dense network of one-room schools that served the dispersed farming community, including Cleveland Sch, Kelly Sch, and Sayles Sch in the north, stretching down to Rathburn Sch and Gale Sch in the south. The Pentwater River and Beaver Creek drain a terrain dotted with numerous small lakes like Pabama Lake, Cabmoosa Lake, and Evans Lake. The civic center of the western township is marked by the Elbridge Town Hall, located near several family-named school sites like Shaw Sch. This map was compiled in part from aerial photographs taken by the Army Air Corps, reflecting an early application of photogrammetry to record the wooded wetlands and section-line roads before modern highway development reshaped the area.