1949 Map of Grass Valley

About this map

Grass Valley and its surrounding gold-mining legacy are captured here just after the post-war era, documenting a landscape shaped by subterranean industry and early California settlement. The map reveals the extensive infrastructure of the Mother Lode, including the Empire Mine, Idaho Maryland Mine, and the North Star Central Shaft, alongside a network of ditches like the Banner Mtn Canal that historically fed these operations. To the west, the Camp Beale Military Reservation occupies a significant portion of the foothills, contrasting with the small agricultural and mining pockets at Rough and Ready and Anthony House. From the Bear River and Combie Lake in the south to the high points of Banner Mtn and Wolf Mtn, the sheet traces the transition from industrial mining centers to rural ranching outposts such as Cranston Ranch and Garden Bar.