1923 Map of Little Panoche

About this map

Oil Pumping Station and a network of early roads define this 1920s landscape in western Fresno County. The topography is dominated by the steep, rising slopes of the Panoche Hills in the southwest, giving way to the flatter terrain of the Central Valley to the northeast. Little Panoche Creek cuts through the center of the sheet, providing a primary drainage route for the surrounding uplands. Surveyed by W.R. Chenoweth and R.A. Kiger, the map documents a transitional industrial-agricultural zone where the emerging petroleum economy met traditional rangeland. The presence of several established bench marks, such as BM 407 and BM 523, indicates the precision with which this often-overlooked corridor was measured during the interwar period.