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1912 Map of Salinas

Name: 1912 Topographic Map of Salinas
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1921
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1921

About this map

The agricultural heart of the Salinas Valley unfolds along the Salinas River in this 1912 survey, revealing a landscape defined by expansive Spanish and Mexican land grants such as La Natividad, El Alisal, and Nacional. The city of Salinas stands as the primary hub, where the Southern Pacific RR intersects with the local narrow-gauge Pajaro Valley Consolidated RR. This rail network was vital to the valley’s early 20th-century economy, connecting the sugar beet factory town of Spreckels and various shipping points like Spence and Chualar.

Detailed rural infrastructure is documented through several localized landmarks, including Hartnell College and a high concentration of country schoolhouses such as Somavia School, Buena Vista School, and El Sansal School. The transition from the flatlands of the Llano de Buena Vista to the foothills of the Cienega del Gabilan illustrates the varied terrain that supported both intensive irrigation and upland ranching.