1955 Map of Mecca

About this map

The settlement of Mecca serves as a focal point for this mid-century desert landscape, situated at the edge of the burgeoning agricultural valley. Large-scale water management infrastructure defines the local geography, with the Coachella Canal and Whitewater River cutting through the terrain to support the extensive grids of desert cultivation. To the south, the northern shoreline of the Salton Sea appears as it was in the mid-1950s, noted at an elevation of 235 feet below sea level.