1963 Map of Hartley SE

About this map

Large cattle ranches and the rail corridor of the Fort Worth and Denver define this portion of the Texas Panhandle in the early 1960s. The landscape is marked by numerous ephemeral lakes and basins, which dot the high plains across this sector of Hartley County. Settlement is sparse and focused on localized ranching operations, such as Bryant Ranch in the west, Beale Queen Ranch near the center of the sheet, and Edlin Ranch in the southeast. Resource extraction begins to appear on the landscape during this era, indicated by a Gas Well in the south. The map provides a precise look at the land use patterns and property boundaries in this corner of the Llano Estacado, where the iron rails of the Fort Worth and Denver create a singular diagonal line through the otherwise grid-patterned ranchland.