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1956 Map of San Francisco

Name: 1956 Topographic Map of San Francisco
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1976
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1976

About this map

San Francisco and its surrounding Bay Area communities appear here in a period of significant post-war expansion. The map details the complex military and maritime infrastructure of the era, from the Presidio and Treasure Island Naval Station to the industrial presence of the Hunters Point Naval Shipyard. This 1950s-era geography captures the region as the modern suburban landscape took shape, including the growth of the Peninsula through Burlingame, San Mateo, and the academic grounds of Stanford University.

Inland, the East Bay is anchored by the urban cores of Oakland and Berkeley, while the northern reaches show the protected lands of Point Reyes National Seashore and Muir Woods National Monument. The transportation network is dominated by the Southern Pacific and Western Pacific railroads, alongside the developing interstate system including Interstate 80 and Interstate 580, which facilitated the rapid densification of the Santa Clara Valley.