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1942 Map of White Lake

Name: 1942 Topographic Map of White Lake
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1957
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1957

About this map

Bethel and its surrounding hamlets are captured here during the early 1940s, revealing a landscape defined by small-scale agriculture and an emerging summer tourism economy centered on its numerous glacial ponds. The historic route of the Newburgh And Cochecton Turnpike serves as the primary artery across northern Sullivan Co, connecting settlements like Fosterdale and West Bethel. The map documents a vanishing era of rural education, pinpointing local institutions such as Hurd Sch, North Bethel Sch, and Mount Hope Sch.

Industry and water management are notably present through the large Toronto Reservoir and the remnants of local water power at Falls Mill and Bauers Mill. For genealogists and local historians, the inclusion of the Stewart Cem and the distinctly named Dutch Settlement provides specific points of interest for tracing family roots in this corner of the Catskills region before post-war developments altered many of these small communities.