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1949 Map of Chicago Park

Name: 1949 Topographic Map of Chicago Park
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1980
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1980

About this map

The gold-bearing ridges of Nevada and Placer counties are defined here by a network of hydraulic mining sites and historic water infrastructure. Rollins Reservoir dominates the lower center of the sheet, submerged beneath which the Bear River flows. The landscape is marked by legacy industrial sites like Red Dog and You Bet, where extensive Placer Diggings and the Chalk Bluff Ridge reveal the scale of 19th-century earth-moving. High points like Banner Mtn overlook active and inactive operations including the Lava Cap Mine and the Banner Mine.

Transportation history is etched into the terrain through the Southern Pacific railroad line and the Donner Route, marked by specific Donner Trail Markers near Chicago Park. Water management is central to the area's development, evidenced by the winding Boardman Canal and the Lower Siphon Ditch, which supported both mining and the small orchards of Peardale. Small community landmarks like the Bear River Sch and Boys Camp provide touchpoints for local genealogists studying this rural Sierra Nevada transition zone.