1937 Map of Kettleman City

About this map

Kettleman City and the surrounding agricultural landscape of the San Joaquin Valley appear in transition during the 1930s. The map captures an era of developing water infrastructure, dominated by the Blakeley Canal and Paso Robles Canal, which fueled the expansion of large agricultural holdings like the West Tulare Land Co and Goodfellow Ranch. The contrast between the flat Tulare Bed and the rising Kettleman Hills to the southwest is clearly defined, with Arroyo Degollado and Arroyo Robador cutting through the upland terrain. Local genealogy and land-use researchers will find significant interest in the grid of early roads, including Omaha Avenue and Quail Avenue, which connected nascent settlements such as Milham City to the regional network. The concentration of wells across the plains further illustrates the dependence on groundwater that characterized this period of California's interior development.