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1921 Map of Marathon

Name: 1921 Topographic Map of Marathon
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1949
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1949

About this map

The Southern Pacific System tracks define the northern corridor of this Trans-Pecos landscape, linking the ranching hub of Marathon to the settlement of Haymond. Surveyed in the early 1920s, the map reveals a remote territory organized around isolated homesteads and family ranches, including the Old Beckley Place, Gages Lightning Ranch, and the Old Edith Lochhausen Place. These outposts are scattered across a complex terrain of basins and ridges, including the Peña Blanca Mountains and the distinctively named Hells Half Acre.

Ephemeral water sources like Peña Blanca Spring and Woods Hollow Tank are critical landmarks in this arid environment, where drainage follows routes such as San Francisco Creek. The presence of the Warwick School and numerous named "places" indicates a period when small-scale settlement was still tethered to reliable water and the railroad, before the consolidation of larger ranching operations. Significant landmarks like Horse Mountain and the Twin Peaks provide prominent navigational points for those traveling between the Lightning Flat and Dagger Flat regions.