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1953 Map of Denver

Name: 1953 Topographic Map of Denver
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1979
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1979

About this map

Denver sits at the transition between the urbanized plains and the formidable peaks of the Front Range in this late 1970s revision. The metropolitan core is surrounded by emerging suburbs like Lakewood, Aurora, and Thornton, while the South Platte River and its tributaries define the regional drainage. Substantial federal and military footprints are evident at Lowry Air Force Base and the Rocky Mountain Arsenal.

Moving west, the landscape rises sharply into the Arapaho National Forest and Pike National Forest. High-altitude settlements such as Fairplay and Como appear alongside vital mountain corridors like Kenosha Pass. The map details a complex water management system essential to the arid West, featuring reservoirs such as Cheesman Lake, Antero Reservoir, and Elevenmile Canyon Reservoir, which serve the growing populations downstream.