1942 Map of Wellsville

About this map

Wellsville and Martinsburg serve as the primary hubs in this late 1930s landscape, where the confluence of three major railroads—the Alton, the Wabash, and the Chicago Burlington and Quincy—drives the local economy. The transition from the flat agricultural lands of Prairie township in the north to the dissected creek valleys of the Loutre and Shamrock regions in the south is clearly defined. An industrial presence is noted south of Wellsville at the Laclede Christy Mine, suggesting the importance of fire clay or mineral extraction alongside traditional farming.