1953 Map of El Monte

About this map

The San Gabriel Mission and its neighboring San Gabriel Mission Cem serve as the cultural anchor for this mid-century look at the San Gabriel Valley. At this moment, the landscape is a dense matrix of post-war suburban expansion, with the San Bernardino Freeway cutting across the grid through El Monte and Rosemead. Traces of the region's earlier ranchos remain in the names of the Potrero Grande and Potrero de Felipe Lugo tracts. To the south, the Whittier Narrows Flood Control Basin is under construction, a massive infrastructure project designed to manage the confluence of the Rio Hondo and the San Gabriel River. This era shows a community in flux, where the Pacific Electric lines still navigate streets alongside new high schools like San Marino High Sch and industrial sites including numerous Oil Wells concentrated near Potrero Heights.