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1951 Map of Keeler

Name: 1951 Topographic Map of Keeler
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1966
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1966

About this map

Keeler serves as the industrial hub on the eastern margin of Owens Lake, where a complex landscape of soda evaporators and the Soda Products Plant defines the local economy during the early 1950s. The Southern Pacific railroad and a nearby Tramway highlight the era's reliance on rail and specialized transport to move extracted minerals from the desert floor. To the east, the Inyo Mountains rise sharply, dotted with industrial markings such as the Sierra Talc Mine and various shafts and prospects.

The arid Owens Valley floor is marked by unique hydrological features like the curiously named Dirty Socks (Hot Spring) and several salt wells. Aviation history is represented by the Adamson Landing Field near the southern edge of the lake bed. From the high elevations of Conglomerate Mesa to the desert expanses of Lower Centennial Flat and Joshua Flat, this survey records a transition from intensive lakeside mineral processing to remote mountain mining operations.