1953 Map of Black Rock Spring NE

About this map

Yakima Firing Center Military Reservation dominates this mid-century landscape, illustrating the expansion of federal military training grounds in Central Washington during the early Cold War. The map captures a transition point where private land use and defense needs met, notably at Stewart Ranch, one of the few named domestic sites within the vast terrain. The topography is defined by the sharp elevations of Umtanum Ridge and the Hog Ranch Buttes, which give way to a network of deeply etched drainages including Alkali Canyon, Corral Canyon, and Sourdough Canyon. The boundary between Kittitas Co and Yakima Co bisects the northern section of the map, marking a political division across a largely uninhabited and arid expanse used primarily for maneuver and range exercises.