1952 Map of Blue Diamond

About this map

Blue Diamond sits at the base of Blue Diamond Hill in this early 1950s survey of Clark County, documenting a landscape where industrial mining and traditional ranching coexist. The map details the operations of the Blue Diamond Mine and nearby Sandstone Quarry, alongside essential water sources such as Mormon Green Springs and Wheeler Camp Spring. The presence of the Bar Nothing Ranch and Oliver Ranch indicates the late-stage ranching economy before the rapid suburban expansion of nearby Las Vegas. Transport is dominated by the Union Pacific Road corridor to the south, while the western portion of the sheet is preserved as part of the Desert Game National Range, encompassing the dramatic verticality of the Spring Mountain Range and Red Rock Canyon. This topographic study captures a critical water-dependent network of springs, such as Willow Spring and Cottonwood Springs, which dictated settlement patterns in the arid terrain.