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1958 Map of Boise

Name: 1958 Topographic Map of Boise
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1958
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1958

About this map

The Snake River and its major tributaries, the Boise River and Payette River, anchor the agricultural and industrial landscape of southwestern Idaho and eastern Oregon. In the late 1950s, the growing urban center of Boise and the neighboring community of Garden City sit at the foot of the Boise National Forest, with peaks like Shafer Butte and Lucky Peak rising to the east. The dominance of the Union Pacific railroad lines and major highways such as U.S. 30 illustrates the region's role as a vital transportation corridor connecting the Treasure Valley settlements of Nampa, Caldwell, and Ontario.

Water management is central to the area's development, evidenced by the presence of Lake Lowell within the Deer Flat National Wildlife Refuge and the C.J. Strike Reservoir to the south. The transition from the irrigated valley floors to the high desert is marked by distinctive volcanic and tectonic features, including Sinker Butte and the Owyhee Mountains. These landforms, along with numerous smaller settlements like Wilder, Parma, and Roswell, reveal a landscape shaped by both natural geology and massive irrigation efforts.