1971 Map of Casa Grande East

About this map

The city of Casa Grande anchors the southwestern corner of this orthophotomosaic, which documents the expansion of irrigation and agriculture across the Pinal County desert in the early 1970s. The landscape transitions from the dense, geometric grid of agricultural fields and orchards in the south to the desert scrub and drainage patterns of the Sacaton Mountains to the north. Water management is a central theme of the terrain, highlighted by the North Branch Santa Cruz Wash cutting through the center and the isolated Lake in the Desert further east. This aerial perspective, captured in July 1971, provides a clear view of the contrast between the developed townsite and the natural elevation of Signal Peak, illustrating the scale of human modification on the arid landscape during a period of significant regional growth.