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1957 Map of Melrose

Name: 1957 Topographic Map of Melrose
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1958
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1958

About this map

Melrose serves as the primary hub of this High Plains landscape, situated along the vital corridor of the Atchison Topeka and Santa Fe railroad. The town's civic infrastructure is well-defined, featuring a local High Sch, a dedicated Sewage Disposal site, and two community burial grounds: North Cem and Memorial Cem. The surrounding terrain transitions from the structured grid of the town to the open rangeland characteristic of the New Mexico borderlands.

Scattered ranching operations like Hart Ranch, Smart Ranch, and Steele Ranch illustrate the localized cattle economy of the mid-1950s. Hydrological features are intermittent but significant for the era, including Tule Lake, Little Tule Lake, and the winding path of Fiddlers Draw. The map also captures the rail siding at Cantara, a small but important link in the regional transportation network near the county line.