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1915 Map of San Juan Bautista

Name: 1915 Topographic Map of San Juan Bautista
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1915
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1915

About this map

The Pajaro River carves a winding path through the Santa Cruz Mountains on this 1915 survey, connecting the fertile valley floors of the Central Coast. Near the center of the map, the Southern Pacific railroad follows the river's gap, linking the agricultural hub of Watsonville to the interior. The landscape is defined by Mexican land grant legacies, shown through vast tracts like Cañada de la Carpinteria and Lomerias Muertas.

Social and religious history is anchored by the Mission San Juan Bautista, situated at the edge of the San Benito Valley. Educational and social landmarks appear in the outskirts, including the St Francis Orphan Asylum and several rural schoolhouses like Carlton School and Lagunita School. To the south, the wetlands of Elkhorn Slough and Moro Cojo Slough reveal the coastal hydrology before decades of modern development, while settlements such as Castroville and Aromas appear at their early twentieth-century scale.