Loading map...

1954 Map of Wheelwright

Name: 1954 Topographic Map of Wheelwright
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1979
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1979

About this map

The coal-rich valleys of eastern Kentucky define this 1954 survey, centering on the company-built landscape of Wheelwright and neighboring Weeksbury. The industrial footprint is evident in the Chesapeake and Ohio railroad line snaking along Beaver Creek and the numerous strip mines that mark the ridgelines. Community life at mid-century is captured through a high density of rural institutions, from the Dunbar High Sch to the Joppa Ch and Pilgrim Ch.

Remote settlements like Speight, Halo, and Hartley are tucked into the narrow hollows of the Cumberland Plateau, connected by winding roads through Abner Mtn and Collier Rocks. The map reveals a complex web of family and community geography, documented via labeled sites such as Riley Branch Sch and Upper Arnold Fork Sch. This era reflects the peak of the region's rail-and-coal economy before later mechanization shifted the local settlement patterns.