1953 Map of Watertown

A robust rail network including the Chicago and North Western Railway and the Great Northern Railway connects agricultural centers like Brookings and Madison to the wider region. Across the state line in Minnesota, the terrain transitions toward the Lac qui Parle River valley and the settlement at Pipestone. This survey captures the height of the post-war agricultural economy when the prairie was a dense grid of section roads, rail-stop elevators, and small lakeside communities.