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1962 Map of Bakersfield

Name: 1962 Topographic Map of Bakersfield
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1969
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1969

About this map

Bakersfield sits at the heart of this mid-century landscape, a vital hub where the agricultural wealth of the Central Valley meets the industrial energy of surrounding oil fields. To the west, the Carrizo Plain and Temblor Range define a stark, arid geography, punctuated by the massive Naval Petroleum Reserve No 1. The eastern half of the map rises sharply into the Sierra Nevada and Greenhorn Mountains, where the Isabella Reservoir anchors the upper Kern River drainage within the Sequoia National Forest.

Transport and water management dictate the settlement patterns seen here. The Southern Pacific and Atchison Topeka and Santa Fe railroads parallel the main north-south corridors, connecting towns like Delano and Wasco. To the south, the dry Buena Vista Lake Bed and Kern Lake Bed illustrate the significant hydrological changes of the era, while the growing footprint of California City in the east marks a new phase of desert development.