Old Map of Snowshoe, West Virginia by USGS, 1924 – Cass, Marlinton & Greenbrier River

Published in 1924, the US Geological Survey’s “Cass” quadrangle presents a richly detailed portrait of the high Allegheny country around Snowshoe, Cass, Marlinton, and Durbin in Pocahontas County, West Virginia. At a scale of 1:62,500, it captures the region before the rise of Snowshoe as a modern skiing and outdoor destination, when these mountains were defined more by forests, rivers, rail lines, timber operations, and remote upland settlements. The map’s original title, “Cass,” anchors it in one of the area’s most historically resonant communities, a town closely associated with the timber industry and mountain railroading. Seen today, the map is a compelling early twentieth-century record of a landscape on the edge of transformation.

The cartography reflects the disciplined precision for which the US Geological Survey became renowned after its founding in 1879. Contour lines describe the steep folds of the Alleghenies with remarkable clarity, while shading and color gradients help the eye follow ridges, hollows, stream valleys, and upland plateaus. Rather than presenting West Virginia as a simple patchwork of towns and roads, the map reveals the structure of the land itself: elevation, drainage, forest cover, and the difficult terrain that shaped every human route through it. Features such as Cheat Mountain, Thorny Flat, Kinnison Ridge, and Beechy Knob emerge not merely as names, but as commanding forms in a rugged mountain system.

Water is one of the map’s great organizing forces. The Greenbrier River runs through the region’s history as much as its geography, linking communities such as Cass, Marlinton, and Durbin to broader patterns of settlement, transport, and industry. Shavers Fork, Laurel Creek, Little River, Works Creek, and Big Spring articulate the landscape in a fine network of drainage lines, carving narrow valleys through heavily forested slopes. These waterways were essential to early travel, logging, and local habitation, and their careful depiction underscores the USGS commitment to practical, scientific mapping. In this terrain, rivers were not decorative details; they were corridors, boundaries, resources, and engines of change.

The map also evokes the environmental story of the central Appalachians. In the early 1920s, this region was still deeply marked by logging, rail development, and changing land use, even as conservation ideas were beginning to reshape public attitudes toward mountain forests. Monongahela National Forest, established only a few years before this map’s creation, forms part of that broader historical moment, when heavily exploited Appalachian lands began to be reimagined as protected watersheds, wildlife habitat, and public recreation country. Areas associated today with the Cranberry Wilderness and the high terrain around Snowshoe speak to a later conservation and recreation legacy layered upon the older working landscape shown here.

For collectors, the “Cass” map offers more than a view of Pocahontas County; it is a study in how topography governs history. The relative positions of Cass, Snowshoe, Durbin, and Marlinton become more meaningful when seen amid steep contours, forested ridges, and river valleys that constrained movement and concentrated settlement. The same mountains that once challenged timber crews and isolated communities would later become prized for skiing, hiking, and outdoor escape. This map preserves the region at a pivotal moment, before resort development and modern infrastructure altered its character, yet after federal cartography had begun to render even remote mountain country with scientific elegance and enduring visual power.

Cities, towns and places on this map

• Snowshoe
• Cass
• Marlinton
• Durbin
• Greenbrier River
• Cheat Mountain
• Monongahela National Forest
• Pocahontas County
• Beechy Knob
• Shavers Fork
• Cranberry Wilderness
• Thorny Flat
• Kinnison Ridge
• Laurel Creek
• Big Spring
• Little River
• Works Creek

Historical context & cartographic details

• Created in 1924 as a historical 1:62,500 topographical map of Snowshoe, West Virginia and the surrounding area.
• Produced by the US Geological Survey, a major contributor to American cartography and geological research since 1879.
• The map prominently features Snowshoe, which has developed significantly since the 1920s and is now known for skiing and outdoor recreation.
• Uses contour lines, shading, and color gradients to show elevation changes and terrain.
• Depicts varied elevations, river systems, forests, and the rugged mountainous landscape typical of West Virginia.
• Serves as an early 20th-century snapshot of the region before later urban development, land-use changes, and conservation efforts transformed the landscape.

Looking for a particular place? Review the detailed images to confirm that the town, landmark or feature you have in mind appears on the map. If you are unsure, ask our workshop to check before you order.

Detailed maps are especially rewarding at larger sizes, where names, boundaries and decorative features have more room to be appreciated. Use the close-up preview and size guide to choose the right scale for your wall.

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The model in the listing images is holding the 16x16in (40x40cm) version of this map.

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With its rich detail and strong sense of place, this map makes a considered gift for a new home, anniversary, retirement or anyone with a personal connection to the area shown. Still deciding? Explore our collection of rare old and vintage maps to discover another place, period or style.