1957 Map of Plaster City

About this map

The industrial and military landscape of Imperial County is defined here by the operations at Plaster City, where a significant Gypsum Plant stands alongside the San Diego and Arizona Eastern Railroad. This desert expanse in the mid-1950s served as a critical corridor for both logistics and defense, containing the sprawling Naval Aerial Gunnery Range and a dedicated Mining Railroad stretching toward the northern mountains. Historical transit is preserved through the alignment of the Old Overland Stage Route, which cuts across the arid terrain near Superstition Mountain. To the east, the desert gives way to early agricultural infrastructure, marked by the Main Canal and the evocatively named Forget-Me-Not Drain near Dixieland. The map reveals a land of utility and transition, from the protected wilderness of Anza-Borrego Desert State Park to specialized sites like a Parachute Testing Unit and an Observation Tower.