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1908 Map of Kernville

Name: 1908 Topographic Map of Kernville
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1922
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1922

About this map

The South Fork Kern River and the main Kern River converge near the early settlements of Isabella and Kernville in this 1908 survey. This landscape preserves the geography of the southern Sierras before the mid-century creation of Lake Isabella, showing the original riverbeds and the neighboring communities of Weldon and Onyx along the valley floor. High-altitude meadows like Big Meadow and Kennedy Meadows are interspersed with peaks such as Sirretta Pk and Chimney Pk.

Resource extraction and early transit routes are well-documented, from the Big Blue Mine near Kernville to the Bright Star Mine further south. The map traces the historic passage through Walker Pass and identifies localized landmarks like Jacks Station and the Canebrake Indian Wells. These details offer a view of the region's early twentieth-century infrastructure, including the Bodfish PO and the Waughn settlement, prior to significant hydrological changes.