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1983 Map of Nipton

Name: 1983 Topographic Map of Nipton
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1983
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1983

About this map

Nipton serves as a lonely outpost along the Union Pacific rail line in the high desert of the Ivanpah Valley. This 1983 provisional survey documents a landscape defined by its transit history and arid geography, sitting precisely at the border between Nevada and San Bernardino Co, California. The map clearly delineates the Von Schmidt Line (1873), an important historical surveying boundary that has long influenced land claims in the Mojave region.

Water sources are scarce but critical markers for local history, including the Murphy Well and the ephemeral Ivanpah Lake. To the south, the settlement of Moore marks another point along the railroad, illustrating the sparse but strategic distribution of rail stops across this desert corridor. Collectors and historians can trace the intersection of early surveying lines and the infrastructure required to sustain life in the expansive basin and range topography.