Loading map...

1956 Map of Los Fresnos

Name: 1956 Topographic Map of Los Fresnos
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1959
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1959

About this map

Palo Alto Battlefield anchors the southern landscape of this coastal Texas survey, marked by an Historical Monument and the Soldiers Cem. The terrain is defined by a complex network of resacas—ancient distributary channels of the Rio Grande—including Resaca de los Fresnos and Resaca de los Cuates. These winding waterways cut through a transition from agricultural ranchlands to the saline marshes of the Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge.

Settlement patterns in the mid-1950s center on Los Fresnos and sprawling holdings like the Buena Vista Ranch and Wardner Ranch. Transportation is dominated by the Missouri Pacific and Southern Pacific lines, alongside the Old Grade Railroad heading toward Bahia Grande. Along the Laguna Madre shoreline, small coastal communities such as Holly Beach and Bayside sit near the tidal flats and islands of the inner coast.