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1896 Map of Carquinez Strait

Name: 1896 Topographic Map of Carquinez Strait
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1954
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1954

About this map

Suisun Bay and the complex tidal network of the Carquinez Strait dominate this late 19th-century landscape, where the confluence of the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers meets the hills of the Coast Ranges. The industrial and maritime importance of the era is evident in the waterfront developments at Benicia, home to the sprawling U.S. Arsenal at Army Pt., and the neighboring rail-and-port hubs of Vallejo, South Vallejo, and Martinez. Along the southern shore, a string of company towns and shipping points like Crockett, Valona, and Port Chicago line the deepwater channel, supported by the Southern Pacific railroad.

North of the strait, the terrain transitions into the expansive marshes of Joice Island and Grizzly Island, etched with numerous waterways such as Montezuma Slough and Suisun Slough. Inland, the map tracks the development of Fairfield and Suisun, while the western heights of the Sulphur Springs Mt. and Elkhorn Peak provide a sharp contrast to the low-lying wetlands and salt works that defined the local economy before modern reclamation.