1943 Map of West Groton

About this map

Lansing and Groton townships define the landscape of this 1943 survey, which reveals a dense network of early 20th-century rural school districts and family-named intersections. The area is characterized by high-plateau agriculture, where the headwaters of Salmon Creek cut through the terrain near North Lansing. The map preserves the specific locations of numerous one-room schoolhouses, from School No 5 in the north down to School No 21 near West Dryden, providing a detailed look at the rural education infrastructure of the era. Settlement patterns are focused around traditional corner hamlets like Howser Corner and Pierson Corners. This survey, compiled from 1942 aerial photography, also documents early fossil fuel exploration in the region, noting a Gas Well near the intersection of North Triphammer Road. From the Bear Swamp wetlands to the flat expanses of Bone Plains, the map captures the transition between the rolling hills of Lobdell Hill and the established farmsteads of the Finger Lakes uplands.