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1944 Map of Folsom

Name: 1944 Topographic Map of Folsom
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1944
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1944

About this map

Folsom and its industrial surroundings appear here in the early 1940s, centered on the confluence of the American River forks and the sprawling State Prison Represa. The landscape is defined by the river’s legacy, shown through extensive gravel bars such as Mississippi Bar, Sailor Bar, and Nigger Bar, which reveal the area's history of hydraulic mining and dredging. The Southern Pacific railroad connects these riparian hubs to the burgeoning citrus groves of Orangevale and the smaller railway stops at Natoma and Nimbus.

To the east, the terrain rises toward the Sierra foothills, dotted with a dense network of country schools including the Mormon Island Sch and Live Oak Sch. This era predates the major damming projects that would later submerge several locations shown here. Rural life is anchored by small crossroads like Clarksville and White Rock, while the Mormon Hill Mine and peaks like Ben Bolt mark the transition from the river valley into the harder rock of the foothills.