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1926 Map of Helvetia

Name: 1926 Topographic Map of Helvetia
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1926
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1926

About this map

Santa Rita Range Reserve dominates the central portion of this Southern Arizona landscape, showing a region defined by scattered ranching outposts and high-desert terrain. The cattle-ranching culture of the era is evident in the numerous family-named homesteads such as Alfredo's Ranch, Brown's Ranch, and Stone's Ranch. In the north, Sahuarita serves as a hub with the Sahuarita School located near the Santa Cruz River, while to the south, the foothills of the Coronado National Forest provide the setting for mining and ranching settlements like Helvetia and Greaterville.

The map reveals a shifting landscape of transportation, with several routes marked as Abandoned Road, indicating changing patterns of movement as the local economy evolved. In the southeastern canyons, including Box Canyon and Enzenberg Canyon, the concentration of sites like Mc Cleary's Ranch and the Madera Ranger Station highlights the importance of water sources and forestry management. This 1920s-era revision provides a look at Pima County before modern expansion, where life was anchored by the river valley and the resources of the surrounding mountains.