1953 Map of Grays Well

About this map

The borderlands of Imperial County are defined here by the meeting of the East Mesa and the shifting Sand Hills, just north of the international boundary between the United States and Mexico. This mid-century landscape is dominated by the massive water infrastructure of the All American Canal and the Coachella Canal, which cut through the desert to bring water to California's inland valleys. The map documents the localized human activity centered around these works, such as Drop 1 and the nearby Oil Tanks. Historically significant points for travelers and maintenance crews, like Gordons Well and Grays Well, sit alongside the Sand Hills Highway Maintenance Station, marking a period of intense hydraulic engineering and desert transit before the region was further modernized.