1958 Map of Cle Elum

About this map

The industrial and transportation geography of Kittitas County is defined here by the convergence of major rail lines and the upper Yakima coal fields in the late 1950s. Cle Elum and Roslyn serve as the primary anchors of this landscape, with the latter surrounded by numerous active or recently worked coal operations including No 3 Mine, No 9 Mine, and the Independent Mine. The rail network is particularly dense, showing the Chicago Milwaukee St Paul and Pacific and the Northern Pacific winding along the Yakima River through South Cle Elum. Beyond the valley floor, the map details the vast expanses of the Wenatchee National Forest, where topography rises toward Cle Elum Ridge and Frost Mountain. This survey records the region just as the Interstate highway era began to reshape the corridor through U.S. 10, while traditional irrigation systems like the Cascade Canal and West Side Canal continued to manage the waters of the Teanaway River.