1961 Map of Wathena

About this map

Wathena and Elwood anchor this study of the Missouri River bottomlands during the early 1960s, a landscape defined by the shifting course of the Missouri River and the intensive agriculture of French Bottom and Burr Oak. The topography reveals a sharp contrast between the flat, fertile floodplains and the dissected loess bluffs to the west, where family and community heritage is preserved in numerous rural landmarks. Genealogists will find a dense concentration of burial sites including Columbus Cem, Mt Calvary Cem, and the secluded Moskau Cem. Transportation is a central theme, with the Chicago Rock Island and Pacific and Union Pacific railroads converging near the river, while Rosecrans Memorial Airport occupies a prominent loop of the riverbank in the French Bottom area, reflecting the mid-century infrastructure of this Kansas-Missouri border region.