Loading map...

1910 Map of Buena Vista Lake

Name: 1910 Topographic Map of Buena Vista Lake
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1912
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1912

About this map

Buena Vista Lake and Kern Lake dominate the southern reach of the San Joaquin Valley in this early twentieth-century survey, before modern water management significantly altered the basin's hydrology. The map reveals an intricate network of irrigation and transport, featuring the Calloway Canal, Beardsley Canal, and Kern Island Canal branching from the Kern River. This hydraulic infrastructure supported the growing agricultural and industrial landscape around Bakersfield and Rosedale.

Evidence of the burgeoning petroleum industry is visible in the southwest, where an Oil Pumping Station and the settlement of Oil City appear near the Buena Vista Hills. Local life is recorded through numerous rural institutions like the Rio Bravo School and Wildwood School. Transportation is anchored by the Southern Pacific RR and the Sunset RR, which connected established hubs like Buttonwillow and Maricopa to the regional economy.