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1954 Map of Death Valley

Name: 1954 Topographic Map of Death Valley
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1972
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1972

About this map

Death Valley dominates this 1954 landscape, flanked by the towering Panamint Range and Amargosa Range. This survey documents a critical era of transition in the California and Nevada desert, where early 20th-century mining history meets the modern atomic age. Remnants of the region's extraction boom are visible in settlements like Rhyolite and Ballarat, along with active sites such as the Talc City Mine and Lila C Mine.

Infrastructure for the Death Valley National Monument is firmly established at the National Park Service Hdq, while the eastern portion of the map is defined by the massive footprint of the Nevada Test Site (AEC) and the Nellis Air Force Range. From the lowest elevation in the United States at Badwater Basin to the high peaks of the Sierra Nevada on the western fringe, the map captures the isolation of the Owens Valley before late-century development intensified.