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1904 Map of San Diego

Name: 1904 Topographic Map of San Diego
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1904
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1904

About this map

The San Diego Bay dominates this coastal landscape, showing the city and its surrounding ranchos at a time of significant transition. The downtown grid of San Diego is densely plotted near the water, while the silver strand leads south from the resort community of Coronado toward the Tia Juana River and the international border. Military presence is firmly established at Ft. Rosecrans on the southern tip of Point Loma, protecting the entrance to the harbor near the Quarantine Station.

Away from the coast, the topography climbs into the mesas and canyons of the Ex Mission San Diego and the expansive La Nacion grant. Small agricultural settlements like Lemon Grove, Chulavista, and Sunnyside are connected by a growing network of railroads, including the Southern California R. R. (Surf Line) and the National City and Otay R. R.. The map captures the early infrastructure of the Sweetwater Valley, anchored by the Sweetwater Reservoir, long before the intensive suburbanization of the late 20th century.