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1923 Map of Fresno

Name: 1923 Topographic Map of Fresno
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1942
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1942

About this map

Fresno sits at the heart of this Central Valley survey, its grid expanding rapidly outward into the surrounding orchards and vineyards during the early 1920s. The city's growth is dictated by the diagonal paths of the Southern Pacific and the Atchison Topeka and Santa Fe railroads, which create a distinctive urban geometry compared to the rigid section lines of the outlying rural districts. To the southeast, the industrial and transit hub of Calwa serves as a major junction point for these rail lines.

The map reveals a landscape defined by an extensive network of irrigation and educational centers. One-room schoolhouses such as Tielman School, American Colony School, and Oleander School are positioned at regular intervals to serve the farming families along Whites Bridge Road and Kearney Boulevard. This survey, updated in the early 1940s from 1920s data, documents the transition of the region into one of the world's most productive agricultural hubs.