1954 Map of Burris Park

About this map

The Kings River dictates the landscape of this Central Valley region, where its waters are diverted through an intricate network of irrigation channels including the Peoples Ditch, Lakeland Canal, and Traver Canal. This complex system of water management, supported by numerous levees and the Dutch John Cut, defines the agricultural productivity of the area near the meeting of Fresno, Kings, and Tulare counties. The Southern Pacific railroad cuts across the northern landscape, while the interior is marked by local centers of community life such as Burris Park and local educational sites like River Bend School and Excelsior School. Aerial revisions from 1950 reveal a rural territory organized around a rigid grid of named avenues, such as Elkhorn Avenue and Excelsior Avenue, indicating a highly surveyed and partitioned farming environment transitioning into the mid-century era.