1987 Map of Black Hills

About this map

The Naval Weapons Center dominates this high-desert landscape in San Bernardino County, where military infrastructure meets the steep elevations of the Black Hills. This 1987 provisional survey illustrates a transition period for defense lands, showing isolated utility points like a Radio Tower and Lookout Tower positioned for line-of-sight across the arid basin. Resource management in this parched environment is evidenced by the presence of a Guzzler and the linear path of an Aqueduct, highlighting the critical nature of water transport in the Mojave. The map serves as a record of late-twentieth-century federal land use, where rugged topographical features were integrated into the operations of one of the Navy's most significant research and testing grounds.