1976 Map of Calexico

About this map

Calexico is captured in sharp detail by this 1976 orthophotograph, illustrating the stark geometric divide between California's intensive agricultural fields and the dense urban grid of the international border. The imagery reveals the massive scale of the All American canal system and the Central Main waterway, which transform the arid Imperial Valley landscape into a productive patchwork of dark, saturated crop fields. To the south, the international boundary with Mexico serves as a sharp line of demarcation, where the concentrated residential patterns of the neighboring city meet the industrial-scale farming of the United States. Along the eastern edge, the Alamo River cuts a narrow path through the irrigated blocks, providing a rare natural curve amidst the strictly surveyed lines of the 20th-century borderlands.