1917 Map of San Juan Bautista

About this map

Mission San Juan Bautista and its surrounding ranchos anchor this survey of the central California corridor where the Santa Cruz Mountains and Gabilan Range meet. The landscape is defined by the winding course of the Pajaro River through the Pajaro Gap, a critical topographic pass that dictated the routes of the Southern Pacific Railroad and early state highways. Early industrial activity is evident at the Sargent Oil Fields and the Cement Works near the San Benito county line, while the coastal lowlands near Watsonville show a dense network of educational and social institutions, including the St Francis Orphan Asylum and several rural schoolhouses like Carlton School. Large Spanish land grant names such as Bolsa Nueva y Moro Cojo and San Justo remain imprinted on the terrain, marking the transition from colonial grazing tracts to the burgeoning agricultural and rail economy of the early twentieth century.