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1947 Map of Jamesan

Name: 1947 Topographic Map of Jamesan
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1947
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1947

About this map

The agricultural landscape of Fresno County is defined here by a rigid grid of section lines and irrigation infrastructure as it appeared just after World War II. Jamesan and Tranquillity serve as the primary human outposts in a territory heavily modified for water management, dominated by the massive Fresno Slough Bypass and the original Fresno Slough. Transport and logistics are anchored by the Southern Pacific and Colorado Southern railroads, which parallel major thoroughfares like Pacific Avenue.

Insights into early 20th-century water engineering are visible through the network of decommissioned irrigation works, specifically the Enterprise Canal (Abandoned) and another unnamed Canal (Abandoned). The transition from surface water to groundwater is suggested by numerous Windmill sites and several labeled Wells scattered across the flats. This map documents a critical era in the Central Valley's development, where vast named roads like Whites Bridge Road and Jensen Avenue begin to overlay the natural drainage patterns of the San Joaquin basin.