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1949 Map of Grass Valley

Name: 1949 Topographic Map of Grass Valley
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1953
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1953

About this map

Grass Valley serves as the industrial and social heart of this 1949 survey, surrounded by a dense network of hard-rock gold mines that shaped the Sierra Nevada foothills. The map documents legendary operations like the Empire Mine, North Star Mine, and Idaho Maryland Mine, alongside smaller works such as the Scotia Mine and Ophir Hill Mine. This concentration of mining activity transitions westward into a complex system of ditches and ravines, such as Squirrel Creek and Deer Creek, which historically supplied the hydraulic and hard-rock operations of the region.

The southwestern portion of the sheet is dominated by the Camp Beale Military Reservation, contrasting the industrial density of the gold fields with large tracts of managed terrain. Rural life is evidenced by scattered schools like Clear Creek Sch and Limekiln Sch, and established crossroads like Rough and Ready. The landscape is defined by the Bear River at the southern boundary, where the Lake Combie reservoir and Van Giesen Dam mark the post-war expansion of water infrastructure for the surrounding valley settlements.