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1955 Map of Howardsville

Name: 1955 Topographic Map of Howardsville
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1969
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1969

About this map

Howardsville and the nearby settlement of Middleton anchor this 1955 survey of the high San Juan Mountains, sitting at the junction of the Animas River and Cunningham Creek. The landscape is defined by an intensive vertical mining economy, where mill sites and mine portals are etched into nearly every drainage. Key industrial landmarks include the Pride of the West Mill and the Old Hundred Mine, alongside numerous named claims like the Shenandoah Mine and Highland Mary Mine.

High-altitude basins such as Arastra Basin and Royal Tiger Basin sit beneath towering peaks like King Solomon Mountain and Kendall Peak. The eastern portion of the map transitions into the Rio Grande National Forest across the Continental Divide Trail, marking the headwaters of the Rio Grande and the Middle Fork Pole Creek. This map captures a specialized mining geography where every gulch and peak supported mineral extraction during the mid-20th century.