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1956 Map of Salton

Name: 1956 Topographic Map of Salton
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1963
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1963

About this map

The Salton Sea dominates this mid-century survey, its shoreline defined by a series of beaches and infrastructure projects from the mid-1950s. Most of the land area shown is contained within the Torres Martinez Indian Reservation, while the northeastern edge of the water is bordered by the Salton Sea State Park. The landscape reflects a specific era of desert development, where the Southern Pacific railroad line runs parallel to the shore, supporting localized activity at Salton and nearby Salton Beach.

A distinct intersection of recreation and utility is visible near Betz Beach, featuring a Flight Course Pylon and a Gravel Pit. The map captures the basin at an elevation of 235 feet below sea level, a detail recorded in May 1956. This document is particularly useful for tracing the precise historical shoreline and early boundary lines between Riverside and Imperial counties before later fluctuations in the water level altered the coastal geography.