1976 Map of Calabasas

About this map

Agoura and the developing foothills of the Santa Monica Mountains define this 1976 orthophotographic study, produced in cooperation with the Forest Service. Unlike standard topographic sheets, this imagery records the literal ground cover and suburban expansion as it existed during the mid-seventies, capturing the exact footprint of residential tracts as they began to push into the canyons. The course of Las Virgenes Creek provides a natural baseline for the area's geography, winding through the valley floor toward the coast. Higher elevation points such as Burro and the enclave of Lakeside Park stand as markers between the rugged undeveloped slopes and the rapidly thickening grid of modern housing developments. This specific view offers researchers a rare visual census of land use just before the significant growth of the late twentieth century transformed these rural outskirts into the established communities seen today.