1952 Map of La Joya

About this map

La Joya and its neighboring settlements occupy the fertile valley where the Rio Grande meets the Rio Salado. This mid-century landscape is defined by the critical infrastructure of the Atchison Topeka and Santa Fe railroad and a protective Levee system along the river's western bank. While the town center is marked by the La Joya Cemetery, the surrounding desert plateau reveals a network of land management and resource extraction, including the massive Sevilleta Grant and a cross-country Pipeline. To the east, the terrain breaks into a complex of deep drainage systems like Arroyo Palo Duro and Arroyo Salas, where isolated landmarks like Los Alamos Spring and various Windmill sites provided essential water for ranching operations at Diamond T Ranch. The 1971 revisions, indicated in purple, track the evolving road network and water courses since the original 1952 survey.