1935 Map of Wilmot

About this map

Bayou Bartholomew snakes through the center of this landscape, its complex oxbows and bends defining the border between Ashley County and Morehouse Parish. This mid-1930s survey by the War Department and Corps of Engineers documents a transition from river-dependent landings to a rail-and-road economy. While traditional water access points like Hinkle Ferry and Saunders Ldg remain, the Missouri Pacific railroad now connects the primary settlements of Wilmot, Parkdale, and Portland. The alluvial plain is heavily modified for agriculture and flood control, evidenced by several Indian Mound sites and an emerging network of drainage works including Ditch No 1 and Ditch No 5. Small rural institutions, such as Prairie Grove Ch and Farmer Sch, anchor the dispersed farming communities of Brushy Prairie and Pine Prairie along the Arkansas-Louisiana state line.