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1917 Map of Cholame

Name: 1917 Topographic Map of Cholame
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1946
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1946

About this map

Parkfield and the Cholame Hills anchor this survey of the central California interior, where the boundaries of Monterey, San Luis Obispo, Kings, and Kern counties converge. The landscape is defined by the heavy ridgelines of the Diablo Range and the Temblor Range, separating the arid Antelope Valley and Kettleman Plain from the cattle and grain country of the west. Evidence of the early 20th-century mercury mining industry is present at the Patriquin Quicksilver Mine and Kings Quicksilver Mine in the northern canyons.

A network of isolated schools and ranches, such as Melville School, Eagle School, and the Sacramento Ranch, reflects a sparse homesteading pattern centered on seasonal watercourses like Cholame Creek and San Juan Creek. In the south, the village of Shandon appears alongside its Shandon Pumping Sta, highlighting the critical role of water infrastructure in sustaining these remote agricultural communities before the mid-century expansion of state water projects.