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1955 Map of Palmito Hill

Name: 1955 Topographic Map of Palmito Hill
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1956
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1956

About this map

The Palmito Hill Battlefield occupies a prominent bend in the Rio Grande during the mid-1950s, marking the site of the final land engagement of the Civil War. This coastal landscape is defined by its "lomas"—low-lying clay dunes that rise above the surrounding salt flats and tidal marshes. Features such as Loma de la Estrella, Loma de la Jauja, and Loma del Muerto provide the only significant elevation in an otherwise level terrain dominated by the river's meandering bancos.

Industrial development is visible along the northern edge of the map at the Brownsville Fishing Harbor and the Brownsville Ship Channel, where levees and passing basins reflect mid-century efforts to manage the wetlands. Older settlement patterns remain evident through the Old Palmito Ranch and the Old Tulosa Ranch Site, while the Boca Chica Highway cuts a straight line through the coastal prairie toward the gulf.