How To Use A US Topo Map To Search For Eastern Ghost Towns"Get the most from old topo's and other maps."
A US topo map, or topographic map, is one of my most important tools when I am searching for old, ghost town in the east. Using these maps correctly, in addition with the use of other maps, which I will explain, you will be well on your way to locating the old settlements. What is a topographic map?
Hikers, campers and backpacker’s use these maps. Professional people, like surveyors, or land developers, forest rangers and the Department Of Conservation, also use Topographic maps. They are an invaluable tool for the outdoors person and should be in the possession of everyone who intends to hike, travel or backpack into a wilderness area. Important…By noticing structures that are listed on an old US topo map you now have a definitive, known existence of a building in the area. This benefit makes the use of older maps very important for research. Purchasing a new map of any area is easy. Most Army and Navy Surplus stores, and many of the large outdoor retailers, sell them to the public. You can also download them from the Internet. A new US topo map is not what we need when searching for old ghost towns. The reason why is because the updated and newer maps of an area, will not show the ghost towns, or older structures that were once in existence. You need to get an old topo of the area where you are going to do your searching. The purpose of the older map is to compare it to a modern map of the same area. Locating an older US topo map is not difficult. Most libraries have them in their history sections; all you need to do is make a copy. Bookstores that sell older, used books of local history, will sometimes carry old topos. Antique stores who specialize in local history may carry old maps. Estate and house auctions sometimes auction off old, US topo maps. After you find the older topo for the area you are going to search, you should then purchase an up to date map of the same area. One of the best maps to use is a county map. They can be purchased at most local service stations and convenience stores. If you are having trouble locating a county map, try the county highway department of the area you are searching in. Before we begin the instructions on how to use topo’s to guide you in your search for the lost towns, I think it’s important that you understand why the ghost towns in the east no longer exist. A good understanding of their demise will benefit you in your research. Gone But Not Forgotten Ghost towns in the east once existed as a small town or village. They may have been the first settlement of an area. Perhaps the ghost town grew from a tiny hamlet consisting of only a few homes, and then grew into a thriving settlement that consisted of many homes and businesses. Whatever the size the ghost town once was, today, many of them are nothing more than holes in the ground. Most are covered and hidden by vegetation and thick scrub brush. Weather conditions, and man, have both played their parts in the destruction of the old eastern towns; And yet, there are many old settlements still to be found. I have hiked through thick brush, crossed streams and rivers and climbed many hills to locate the gone but not forgotten towns. Oftentimes, that is the effort that is needed to locate them. As mentioned, many of the ghost towns in the east consist of nothing more than a hole in the ground. Those empty holes are the only reminders that at one time a family had lived there. There are many reasons why the original frames of the homes are no longer standing. Of course time is the main reason. Over the years the wooden frames have deteriorated and fallen to the ground; Nature then takes its course. Rot and bacteria destroy what is left of the old structures. The harsh weather conditions in the east have played an important role in the destruction of the old buildings. On many of the State Lands across the United States, where ghost towns exist, most of those homes were taken from the property owners because of non-payment of their property taxes. These were usually large farms or whole farming communities. This was happening during the early days of the twentieth century when the industrial age was booming, but farms and small farming communities were desperately trying to survive. After the States took the property they would then burn the structures to clear the way for the CCC’s, the Civilian Conservation Corps. The CCC’s would then plant trees on those lands as part of their reforestation program.
If you do, you will be in violation of what is known as ARPA of 1979. The Archaeological Resources Preservation Act.
ARPA 1979 This federal law goes all the way back to 1906. I will go into more detail about this law and how it affects all of us in another section. You may locate old US topo map at the historical societies.
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