1963 Map of Wharncliffe

About this map

Tug Fork carves a winding path through the borderlands of West Virginia, Virginia, and Kentucky, anchoring a landscape shaped by coal extraction and rail transport. The Norfolk and Western railroad tracks follow the river's tight bends, serving a network of hollows where industrial and community life converged. Small settlements like Wharncliffe, War Eagle, and Glen Alum appear as essential hubs along the tracks, while higher elevations like Stafford Mountain and Magnolia Glen are marked by intensive Strip Mines. The geography of the early 1960s reveals how terrain dictated social structure, with schools like Cline Sch and Buchanan Sch situated near family-named landmarks like Twisted Gun Gap and Chestnut Log Hol. Cultural life is noted through numerous cemeteries and churches, including Wharncliffe Ch, scattered across the ridges and narrow valleys.