1919 Map of Playas

About this map

Playas Lake dominates the central basin of this high-desert landscape in Grant County, surveyed just before the end of the Great War. The ephemeral shoreline of the lakebed stretches north-to-south, bounded to the west by the steep elevations of the Animas Mountains. Transportation across this arid corridor was defined by the El Paso and Southwestern railroad, which provided a vital link for the small settlement at Playas and the rail stop at Antelope. Ranching interests are clearly marked by the Whitmire Ranch, situated near the southern tip of the lakebed, and the eponymous Whitmire Pass that cuts through the mountains to the west. This map records the early 20th-century infrastructure of the Playas Valley, where the railroad and isolated ranching outposts formed the backbone of human presence in a territory largely defined by its dramatic topography.