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1948 Map of Los Alamos

Name: 1948 Topographic Map of Los Alamos
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1948
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1948

About this map

Los Alamos sits at the heart of the Los Alamos Valley, serving as a centralized hub for this rural stretch of Santa Barbara County just after World War II. The settlement is clearly defined by its street grid, containing the Los Alamos School and the Los Alamos Cemetery to the south. The landscape is dominated by the prominent Purisima Hills and Santa Rita Hills, which hem in the cultivated lowlands and define the drainage patterns of the region.

Transportation and water access are dictated by the terrain, with numerous seasonal drainages such as Cañada de los Alisos and Cañada de Santa Rosa carving through the uplands. Roads follow the natural contours of the land, notably through Drum Canyon and the Santa Rita Valley. The map illustrates a transitional era where the local economy remained tied to the geography of the canyons, including Cebada Canyon and Crawford Canyon, before the further expansion of modern infrastructure.