Loading map...

1943 Map of Morgan Valley

Name: 1943 Topographic Map of Morgan Valley
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1943
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1943

About this map

The northern California interior comes into focus during the early 1940s, highlighting a remote landscape where several counties—Lake, Colusa, Napa, and Yolo—converge. The settlement of Knoxville serves as a lonely outpost in a region dominated by the mining industry and large-scale ranching. This survey documents a cluster of significant mineral operations, including the Reid Mine, Harrison Mine, and the Manhattan Mine, which operated in the steep terrain of Morgan Valley. These mines suggest a period of active resource extraction before the modern shift toward conservation and viticulture.

Water sources define the geography, from the meandering Cache Creek in the north to Putah Creek in the south. Between these drainages, several family-named properties like the Hennesey Ranch and Ink Ranch anchor the local history, alongside the Morgan Valley Sch. The map preserves the complex network of minor drainages such as Jerusalem Creek and Jericho Creek, providing a detailed look at the watershed before modern land-use changes altered many of these seasonal flows.