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1957 Map of Portales

Name: 1957 Topographic Map of Portales
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1958
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1958

About this map

The growing agricultural and educational hub of Portales anchors this mid-century survey of Roosevelt County. The grid of the city reveals a developing community where the Eastern New Mexico University campus sits on the southern edge, and the Atchison Topeka and Santa Fe railroad cuts diagonally through the center of town. The surrounding high plains landscape is defined by vast sections of ranchland and scattered homesteads such as Ribble Ranch and Compton Ranch.

Evidence of early 20th-century settlement patterns remains visible in the outlying hamlets and crossroads. To the northwest, the small community of Bethel and its nearby Bethel Cem provide a point of reference for local family history, while to the southwest, the location of Delphos marks another rural node. The drainage patterns of Boone Draw and Blackwater Draw break the otherwise flat terrain, illustrating the natural geography that influenced the placement of the area's many wells and early stock operations.