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1943 Map of Oil City

Name: 1943 Topographic Map of Oil City
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1949
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1949

About this map

Oil City and a network of family-owned ranching operations define this portion of Eddy County during the late 1930s. The landscape is characterized by its resource-driven economy, notably evidenced by the expansive U. S. Potash Reserve and the heavy-duty infrastructure of the Atchison Topeka and Santa Fe railroad cutting through the southeast. A series of ephemeral drainages, including Palmilla Draw and Chalk Bluff Draw, cross the terrain toward the Pecos River valley to the west.

Settlement patterns are tied to water and mineral access, with named sites such as North Williams Ranch, Millman Ranch, and Benson Ranch spaced across the arid Burton Flat. To the southwest, the Carlsbad National Wildlife Refuge borders the waters of Lake Avalon, while the topography rises toward Mimosa Ridge and Quahada Ridge in the east. This era shows the region as a critical intersection of potash mining, petroleum exploration, and large-scale cattle ranching before modern development altered the remote character of the basin.