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1949 Map of Chicago Park

Name: 1949 Topographic Map of Chicago Park
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1967
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1967

About this map

Chicago Park and the surrounding Sierra Nevada foothills are defined by a complex network of historic water systems and mining infrastructure. In the late 1940s, the landscape remained deeply marked by its gold-rush legacy, from the Placer Diggings at You Bet and Red Dog to the industrial operations at the Lava Cap Mine and Banner Mine. These hydraulic and hard-rock ventures relied on an intricate web of canals and ditches, such as the Boardman Canal, Siphon Ditch, and Chicago Park Ditch, which redirect water across the ridges and canyons formed by Greenhorn Creek and the Bear River.

Tracing the Route of the Donner Party, the map identifies several Donner Trail Markers that follow the upland terrain. Local life centers around small settlements like Peardale and Bear River Pines, while the Southern Pacific railroad snakes through Secret Ravine and past Magra. This era captures a transition from intensive mining to a more settled rural landscape, evidenced by the presence of the Bear River Sch and the Loma Rica Airport in the western reaches.