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1904 Map of Camelback

Name: 1904 Topographic Map of Camelback
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1904
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1904

About this map

Paradise Valley and the northern reaches of the Salt River Valley appear here in a period of early territorial development, surveyed by T. M. Bannon and C. H. Birdseye just after the turn of the century. The map documents the critical role of water infrastructure in the arid landscape, tracing the paths of the Arizona Canal and the Old Verde Canal as they skirt the base of the McDowell Mts.

While much of the terrain remains open desert under the Tonto National Forest or within the Salt River Indian Reservation, prominent landmarks like Camelback Mtn and Thompson Pk provide the primary geographic anchors. Small indicators of human activity, such as a lone Corral and Mountain Spring, suggest a landscape defined more by ranching and hydrology than by the urban expansion that would later transform this part of Maricopa County.