1952 Map of Hereford

About this map

The San Pedro River valley in the early 1950s was a landscape defined by an extensive network of family-owned ranching operations and the infrastructure of the Southern Pacific Railroad. From the settlement of Hereford down to Palominas, the map documents a series of established holdings including the Double Mill Ranch, Dinwiddie Ranch, and the Wick Ranch. These cattle-and-dairy interests were positioned along the fertile Valle Del San Rafael, where water was managed through various pumping stations and the natural flows of Spring Creek and Green Brush Draw. To the east, the foothills of the Mule Mountains rise above the valley floor, still bearing the trace of an Old Railroad Grade that speaks to the region's earlier industrial transit routes.