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1940 Map of San Fernando

Name: 1940 Topographic Map of San Fernando
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1955
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1955

About this map

San Fernando Mission stands as a historic anchor in this 1940 study, situated at the edge of a rapidly developing San Fernando Valley. The map illustrates a landscape in transition, where established agricultural tracts and the massive San Fernando Reservoir meet the expanding street grids of San Fernando and Sylmar. The northern portion of the quadrangle is dominated by the steep canyons of the Angeles National Forest, including Placerita Canyon and Mint Canyon, which contrast sharply with the flat, developed valley floors below.

Transportation infrastructure drives the settlement patterns here, with the Southern Pacific tracks following the Santa Clara River through narrow passes to reach outposts like Lang and Humphreys. In the southeast, the Tujunga Valley is marked by the presence of a Sanatorium and the growing residential footprint of Sunland, showing how the Los Angeles periphery was beginning to climb into the foothills by the late 1930s.