Loading map...

1910 Map of Furnace Creek

Name: 1910 Topographic Map of Furnace Creek
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1920
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1920

About this map

Rhyolite and the mining districts of Bullfrog anchor the northern landscape of this survey, conducted during a period of intense prospecting and rail expansion along the California-Nevada border. The infrastructure of the era is clearly marked by the Tonopah and Tidewater RR and the Tonopah and Las Vegas RR cutting across the Amargosa Desert. These routes serviced critical resource points like the Lila C Mine and the Borax Mill, illustrating the industrial scale of extraction in the early 20th century.

Water remains the defining constraint of the region, evidenced by the meticulous labeling of Franklin Well, Texas Spr, and Hole in the Rock Spring. From the high peaks of the Funeral Mountains to the depths of Death Valley, the map details a network of ranches such as Furnace Creek Ranch and Fairbanks Ranch that provided essential footholds in a landscape where transit relied on Auto Roads and Traction Roads.