1974 Map of Yellow Tavern

About this map

The Chickahominy river basin dominates this 1974 orthophotoquad, which provides a high-altitude visual record of the landscape north of Richmond during a period of significant suburban expansion. Unlike traditional topographic maps that use symbols and contours, this imagery-based study captures the actual footprint of mid-1970s development, showing the precise carving of residential cul-de-sacs and commercial corridors into the surrounding forest and farmland. The dark, winding path of the Chickahominy provides a sharp contrast to the geometric patterns of the interstate highway and newer housing tracts. For researchers, the map serves as a primary source for observing the specific moment when rural Hanover County began its rapid transition into a modernized suburban corridor, preserving the exact layout of properties and tree lines that have since been altered by decades of further growth.