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1985 Map of Mount Livermore

Name: 1985 Topographic Map of Mount Livermore
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1985
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1985

About this map

The McDonald Observatory anchors the high ridges of the Davis Mountains, overlooking a landscape defined by dramatic basin-and-range geology in Far West Texas. The Southern Pacific railroad cuts a diagonal line across the desert floor, connecting small sidings and outposts like Lobo, Chispa, and Valentine. This era of the mid-1980s shows the region’s long-standing reliance on transcontinental rail and scattered ranching, with the Plata Verde Mines and various quarries indicating the localized mineral extraction that shaped the early economy.

Terrain features are particularly dense, ranging from the volcanic heights of Baldy Peak and Geronimo Mountain to the rugged Sierra Vieja near the international border with Mexico. The map preserves the specific nomenclature of the trans-Pecos, where deep drainage systems like Wild Horse Draw and Eagle Flat Draw navigate between the Van Horn Mountains and the Eagle Mountains. It is a landscape of vast isolation, where landmarks such as Heliograph Hill and Needle Peak served as critical points for surveying and communication across the desert.