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1901 Map of Santa Ana

Name: 1901 Topographic Map of Santa Ana
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1932
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1932

About this map

Santa Ana and its surrounding coastal plains appear here in a period of transition, where the agricultural legacy of Spanish land grants meets the early infrastructure of the Southern California rail network. The map preserves the boundaries of the expansive Santiago De Santa Ana and Las Bolsas ranchos, showing a landscape defined by seasonal drainages and early irrigation. Along the coast, Newport Bay is depicted in its natural state before major twentieth-century dredging and development transformed the harbor.

Industrial development is visible through the Southern Pacific Newport Beach Branch and the Smeltzer Branch, which served the region's agricultural hubs like Celery and Smeltzer. To the south, the topography shifts abruptly into the San Joaquin Hills, where the coastline becomes more complex at Reef Pt. and Abalone Pt.. The small seaside settlement of Laguna and nearby Arch Beach highlight the early appeal of the Orange County coast long before the era of modern urbanization.