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1921 Map of Wise

Name: 1921 Topographic Map of Wise
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1921
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1921

About this map

The mountain town of Norton serves as a central hub in this survey, where the Norfolk and Western Ry and Louisville and Nashville RR converge. This industrial corridor is defined by numerous mining-era settlements such as Dorchester, Esserville, and Blackwood, which are linked by the Interstate RR through the narrow valleys of Little Stone Mountain. To the south, the terrain rises toward Powell Mountain and High Knob, where the landscape transitions into a more rural pattern of ridge-top schools and creek-side homesteads.

Genealogists will find a dense network of local institutions, from Cox Chapel in the southwest to a series of numbered and named schoolhouses like Buffalo School and Grays School. The boundary between Wise Co and Scott Co follows the prominent crests of the Stone Mountain range, illustrating the geographical barriers that shaped early settlement and transport. In the lower valleys, the Guest River and Clinch River systems provide the primary water routes through an area defined by coal production and timber extraction.