1954 Map of La Mesita Negra SE

About this map

Town of Atrisco Grant and Pajarito Grant lands dominate this mid-century New Mexico landscape, characterized by vast open terrain and the early infrastructure of the Cold War era. The sheet documents a transitional period for Bernalillo County as modern communications and transportation began to overlay historic land grants. A CAA Beacon, TV Tower, and Radio Relay Tower signal the region's role in the growing national communications network, while a designated 2 Lane road corridor, carrying routes 66 and 40, bisects the area. Natural features like the desert escarpment at El Rincon sit alongside industrial remnants including several Gravel Pits (Inactive) and an Oil Well (Aband). This 1967 photorevision captures the arrival of new residential patterns on the eastern edge, showing the systematic expansion of the Albuquerque outskirts into the high desert.