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1956 Map of Grand Junction

Name: 1956 Topographic Map of Grand Junction
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1973
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1973

About this map

The Colorado River and Plateau Creek converge at the foot of the Book Cliffs, anchoring a network of agricultural and industrial settlements in the Grand Valley. This 1956 survey, revised in 1969, illustrates a landscape defined by the Roan Cliffs and the expansive Tavaputs Plateau, where the transition from high mesa terrain to river-bottom orchards is clearly visible. The Denver & Rio Grande Western RR follows the river corridor, connecting Grand Junction to outlying communities like Loma, Fruita, and Cameo.

Further north and west, the map traces the rugged reaches of the Uintah and Ouray Indian Reservation and the remote mining and railroad settlements of Dragon and Atchee. From the Piceance Creek Basin to the Colorado National Monument, the sheet documents a period when local economies were balanced between ranching, early energy exploration at the Gas Field, and the established rail routes that moved goods across the Utah-Colorado border.