Loading map...

1936 Map of Laguna Vista

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

USGS Topo · Published 1936

About this map

The coastal wetlands and coastal prairies of Cameron County are defined here by a complex system of shallow bays and tidal flats. The Bahia Grande dominates the center of the sheet, bordered by distinctive terrain features such as Redhead Ridge and Long Ridge. The interaction between the land and the Laguna Madre is shaped by numerous lomas, or small elevated clay dunes, including Loma la Jauja and Loma Pelona, which provided critical high ground in an otherwise inundatable landscape.

Transportation infrastructure in the 1930s relied on the Port Isabel and Rio Grande Valley Railroad and State Highway No 100, which cut across the northern reaches toward the coast. Local movement across the wetlands is evidenced by Paso Corvinas and the Old Railroad Grade near Posta de Roque. This survey, compiled with assistance from County Engineer W. O. Washington, captures the coastal topography before modern drainage and development altered the margins of San Martin Lake.