1946 Map of West Plains

About this map

West Plains serves as the regional anchor of this Howell County landscape, situated at the junction of the St Louis San Francisco railroad and several primary roads. In the mid-1940s, the surrounding Ozark foothills were densely patterned with rural institutions, including a remarkably high concentration of country schools such as Blue Mound Sch, Homeland Sch, and Evergreen Sch. The map reveals a community structured around small watercourses like Howell Creek and the South Fork Spring River, where numerous springs like Gladden Spr and Bunt Spr provided essential water sources. Genealogists will find significant value in the documentation of remote burial sites like Mc Elmery Cem and Meltabarger Cem, alongside small settlements including Moody and Lanton near the Arkansas border.