1951 Map of Westplains

About this map

The Tennessee Valley Divide snakes through this portion of Graves County, separating the drainages that flow toward the Tennessee and Mississippi Rivers. During the early 1950s, this rural landscape was defined by small agricultural settlements like Westplains and Hicksville, where daily life centered around local institutions such as Hardeman School and Panther Creek School. The intricate network of waterways, including the West Fork Clarks River and its extensive Clarks River Bottoms, necessitated numerous crossings such as Casey Bridge and the nearby Old Casey Bridge. Genealogists will find a high density of family-named landmarks and burial grounds, from the Sand Hill Cem in the northeast to the Arnett Cem and Rickman Cem, which reflect the generations of families who established farms along the winding creeks and branches of this region.