1955 Map of Mettler

About this map

The southern end of the San Joaquin Valley is defined by massive infrastructure and petroleum exploration on this 1955 survey, updated with 1968 revisions. The settlement of Mettler sits at a critical junction near the Wheeler Ridge foothills, where a small Landing Strip and local businesses served the heavy traffic of the Maricopa Highway. The landscape reflects a shift from local agriculture, evidenced by Meridian Sch and Sandrini Road, toward large-scale state water projects. A significant purple revision shows the California Aqueduct cutting through the terrain, including the site for the Wind Gap Pumping Plant. The map also captures the extent of the local energy economy, detailing the Wheeler Ridge Oil Field, the Tejon Oil Field, and the Tejon Hills Oil Field as they spread across the valley floor and rising slopes.