Loading map...

1936 Map of La Paloma

Name: 1936 Topographic Map of La Paloma
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1936
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1936

About this map

The Rio Grande meanders along the international border between the United States and Mexico in this 1930s survey of Cameron County. The landscape is defined by the unique hydrology of south Texas, featuring numerous oxbow lakes and abandoned river channels known locally as resacas, including Resaca de los Fresnos and Rancho Viejo Resaca. Along the riverbanks, various territorial benches or "bancos" like Capote Banco No 13 and Benavides Banco No 10 mark the shifting course of the water and the boundary line between Texas and Tamaulipas.

Settlement patterns follow the Missouri Pacific railroad line, which connects communities such as La Paloma, Los Indios, and San Benito. Local educational life is anchored by the Highland Sch and Rangerville Sch, while an intricate network of irrigation and transportation routes like Military Road and La Paloma Cutoff Road crisscross the agricultural terrain. This document captures the region just as the irrigation infrastructure of the Lower Rio Grande Valley was maturing.