How I stopped trusting old map keys after a 1957 road atlas let me down near Tulsa

Honestly, I used to just glance at the legend on any old map and assume the symbols meant the same thing everywhere. Then last summer I was following a 1957 Shell atlas through Oklahoma and the dashed line I thought was a scenic route turned out to be a dirt track that dead ended at a dry creek. Took me 45 minutes to turn around. Now I always cross check any pre-1980 map's key against a modern county road list before I plot a trip. Has anyone else been burned by a weird symbol on an old map, like a railroad mark that was actually a ferry?

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the_keith29d ago

Man that stinks, getting stuck out there for 45 minutes is brutal. I feel for you, old maps are a gamble every time. I’ve had a similar letdown with a faded trail marker that turned out to just be a logging road.