1968 Map of San Pablo

About this map

San Pablo sits at the northern edge of this South Texas landscape, where the brush country of Webb and Duval Counties meets a specialized landscape of cattle ranching and energy extraction. The map reveals a sophisticated network of resource management centered on the West Cole Field, where numerous Oil Wells and Gas Wells are interwoven with family-named windmills that were vital for sustaining livestock. The terrain is defined by the ephemeral drainages of Macho Creek and Santonino Creek, which feed localized water catchments like the Upper Field Tank and Presa Seca Tank. For those tracing local history, the Loma Blanca Cem and the Dimm Ranch provide anchors of settlement amidst a vast grid of industrial pipelines and gravel pits. This survey captures a moment when traditional ranching infrastructure, represented by the Pila Grande Windmill and Muerto Windmill, operated in tandem with the mid-century expansion of the Texas oil industry.