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1954 Map of Salt Lake City

Name: 1954 Topographic Map of Salt Lake City
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1973
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1973

About this map

The Wasatch Mountains dominate the western edge of this mid-century landscape, creating a steep vertical barrier between the burgeoning urban corridor of the Jordan River valley and the high basins to the east. By the early 1950s, the metropolitan area from Salt Lake City south through Murray and Midvale to Provo shows a distinct pattern of settlement anchored by the Union Pacific and Denver and Rio Grande Western railroads.

To the east, the map details a complex network of water management and forest lands, including the Strawberry Res and the Uintah and Ouray Indian Reservation. High peaks like Mount Agassiz and Mount Timpanogos mark the transition into the Uinta National Forest and Ashley National Forest. This survey captures the region just as post-war suburban expansion began to fill the benchlands below the peaks, while the eastern high country remained defined by remote river forks and nascent reservoirs.