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Southern Illinois and Western Kentucky Coal & Iron Mining Regions
Finely executed manuscript map, illustrating lease claims in Southern Illinois and Western Kentucky during the mining boom period between about 1847 and 1850.
The map illustrates lease claims in red, roads, towns, townships, rivers, salt works, coal mining regions, etc., and is likely the product of an official government survey, as the note at the bottom right identifies leased lands not shown on the map because of a lack of a section and township description of the lease.
The focal point of the map are the salt works, coal mines and iron mines activities in Hardin County, Gallatin County and Pope County in Illinois, and Union County Kentucky, with leased lands identified in red, primarily the lands south of Saline Creek (Saline River) and centered on Beaver Creek.
The map is centered on a section of the Ohio River from the area around the confluence of the Ohio and Wabash Rivers and Uniontown, Kentucky, to the area just east of the confluence of the Ohio and Tennessee River, extending to west of Paducah Metropolis City.
Hardin County was formed on March 2, 1839, divided from Pope County. The land was opened for settlement in 1847, with land offered for sale at $1.25 per acre. Also in 1847, a triangle of land was added at the northeast side of the county (formerly part of Gallatin County), bringing it to its current configuration. Iron was discovered in the area, with the Illinois Furnace created in 1837 (closed 1874), followed by the Martha Furnace in 1848 (closed in 1857). A lead smelter was also built at Rosiclare (west of Elizabethtown), which is not shown on this map.
Some of the town named include:
- Shawneetown
- Cave-in-Rock
- Paducah
- Smithland
- New Liberty
- Vienna
- Bay
- Golconda
- Elizabethtown
- Caseyville
- Morganfield
- Equality
The note on the map reads:
The following lands not being described by Sec. Town & Range in the leases obtained are not located on this map- viz.
- 240 acres Hardin County, Ill. Wm. Brinkly [Illinois State Representative William Brinkley, 1842-46]
- 75 acres Harding County, Ill. Jas. Kenrick on Beaver Creek
- 80 acres Gallatin County, Ill. Robt Thompson on Brinkly Creek
- 60 acres Gallatin County, Ill. Jas. Kenrick on Beaver Creek
- 80 acres Gallatin County, Ill. Jas. Conley on Brinkly Creek
We believe the map dates to just after the creation of the Martha Furance in 1848.
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