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1959 Map of Richmond

Name: 1959 Topographic Map of Richmond
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1980
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1980

About this map

Industrial infrastructure and expanding postwar residential neighborhoods define this coastal corridor during a period of significant urban growth. The San Pablo Oil Tank Farm and the massive rail networks of the Southern Pacific and Atchison Topeka and Santa Fe Ry illustrate the heavy industrial base of the East Bay. This survey highlights the complex shoreline of the Richmond Inner Harbor, including Point Potrero and the Inner Harbor Basin, while tracking the dense residential grids of San Pablo, Richmond, and El Cerrito.

Away from the waterfront, the terrain rises sharply into the Berkeley Hills and Sobrante Ridge. These highlands provide a buffer of open space, most notably within the Charles Lee Tilden Regional Park and around the San Pablo Reservoir. From St Joseph Cemetery to the campus of Richmond Union HS, the map serves as a detailed record of the local institutions and landmarks that anchored these communities in the late 1950s.