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1948 Map of Ralston Buttes

Name: 1948 Topographic Map of Ralston Buttes
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1948
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1948

About this map

The rugged foothills of the Front Range are captured here during a period of transition in the late 1940s. Distinctive landmarks like Ralston Buttes and Mt Tom overlook a landscape carved by Ralston Creek and Van Bibber Creek. This area, mapped in cooperation with the City and County of Denver, reflects the vital intersection of ranching and water management, evidenced by the Ralston Res and several family-named ranching operations like the Ralston Creek Ranch and Centennial Ranch.

Education and early industry are marked by the presence of rural schoolhouses such as Robinson Sch and Belcher Sch. To the northeast, the Denver and Salt Lake railway skirts Rocky Flats, passing through Arena Siding near a localized Fireclay deposit. This survey, which utilized data from the Works Progress Administration, provides a detailed look at the gulches and high points, including Centennial Cone and Centralia Mountain, before later 20th-century development altered the character of these Jefferson County slopes.