Loading map...

1914 Map of Lost Hills

Name: 1914 Topographic Map of Lost Hills
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1928
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1928

About this map

The Lost Hills and the expansive Antelope Plain define this early twentieth-century landscape on the western edge of the San Joaquin Valley. Surveyed between 1907 and 1908, the sheet captures the region just as oil exploration began to transform the area's arid character. Early infrastructure is sparse, marked primarily by isolated water sources like Alamo Solo Spr and the County Well, which were vital for cattle ranching and early travelers.

A few primitive routes, such as the Dudley-Lemoore Road, navigate the gap between the Kettleman Hills and the Pyramid Hills. Notable landmarks for early surveyors and homesteaders include Emigrant Hill and Wagonwheel Mtn. Local family history is rooted in sites like McDonalds Ranch near Bitterwater Creek, providing a rare look at the valley's settlement pattern before the arrival of modern irrigation and industrial-scale petroleum extraction.