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2010 Map of Quay

Name: 2010 Topographic Map of Quay
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 2010
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 2010

About this map

Saddleback Mesa rises above the eastern New Mexico plains, defining the western edge of this landscape where small agricultural outposts and family-named landmarks are scattered across a grid of rural roads. The area around Quay shows a pattern of early 21st-century settlement marked by named locations like Horton, Baker, and Osteen, many situated along the arterial Quay Road network. These points, along with Wallus, Cast, and Fish, reflect the historical distribution of ranching and farming homesteads in Quay County.

Water is a critical feature in this arid environment, represented by the ephemeral drainage of Garcia Creek and its tributaries, including Charco Creek and Adobe Walls Creek. Evidence of local heritage is preserved at the Brown Cemetery in the northern section, while the Orbeson Windmill stands as a functional landmark of the region's reliance on groundwater. The map documents a quiet, vast territory where the infrastructure of state routes and numbered country roads provides the primary framework for local navigation.