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1965 Map of Williamstown

Name: 1965 Topographic Map of Williamstown
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1966
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1966

About this map

Old Mans Creek and its several tributaries, including Dirty Face Creek and Picayune Creek, carve a rolling agricultural landscape across the border of Johnson and Washington counties. In the mid-1960s, this area remained a dense network of rural infrastructure, where small community hubs like Williamstown and Sharon Center served a population of dispersed family farms. The map is particularly rich for genealogical research, documenting numerous country schoolhouses and churches that anchored rural life, such as Hartsock Sch, Willow Grove Sch, and Haven Ch.

A distinct pattern of small family and denominational burial grounds, including St Peters Cem, Gingerich Cem, and Hummer Cem, are scattered throughout the townships of Hardin, Union, and Sharon. The prevalence of these sites, alongside features like East Union Ch and Fairview Sch, illustrates the late-20th-century persistence of the traditional Midwestern school district and parish system before widespread consolidation.