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1945 Map of El Yunque

Name: 1945 Topographic Map of El Yunque
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1945
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1945

About this map

Sierra de Luquillo peaks dominate this mid-century landscape, centered on the high elevations of the Caribbean National Forest. The map documents the steep interior terrain of Puerto Rico, where the prominent summits of El Yunque, Mte Britton, and El Toro define the drainage basins for numerous waterways, including the Rio Espiritu Santo and Rio Mameyes. Human settlement is concentrated in the lower elevations to the north and east, notably at Mameyes (Palmer) and the rural community of El Verde.

Insights into early 20th-century land use appear through labels for local infrastructure like the Escuela Casiano Cepeda and the Ranger Station. The presence of Mina and La Mina suggests historical extractive activity, while the Area Recreo de la Mina points toward the early development of the forest for public use. Numerous municipal boundaries are delineated, showing how the ridges of the Luquillo range partitioned the jurisdictions of Rio Grande, Luquillo, and Naguabo.