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1952 Map of Anvil Points

Name: 1952 Topographic Map of Anvil Points
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1966
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1966

About this map

The Roan Cliffs and the high Roan Plateau dominate this 1952 study of energy development in Garfield County. The landscape is defined by the heavy footprint of the Naval Oil Shale Reserve, where industrial activity is concentrated at the Bureau of Mines Oil Shale Experiment Station and the Anvil Points Oil Shale Mines. This facility, accompanied by a dedicated Tank Farm and Weather Station, highlights the federal government's mid-century efforts to secure domestic oil supplies through experimental shale extraction.

Lower elevations including Glover Park and Webster Mesa sit below the sharp drop-offs of East Anvil Point and West Anvil Point. Numerous watercourses like Parachute Creek and Yellowjacket Creek carve deep gulches through the plateau, revealing the geologic layers targeted by the mining operations. Even by this date, some extraction sites were already designated as Oil Shale Mine (Inactive), reflecting the cyclical nature of energy exploration in this corner of Colorado.