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1958 Map of Santa Cruz

Name: 1958 Topographic Map of Santa Cruz
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1958
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1958

About this map

Monterey Bay serves as the focal point of this mid-century survey, where the coastal communities of Santa Cruz and Monterey meet the vast interior of Central California. The landscape transitions from the jagged shoreline at Pacific Grove and Carmel through the fertile Salinas River valley, documented here during a period of significant agricultural and military expansion. Extensive land use is evident in the sprawling Fort Ord Military Reservation and the southern reaches of Hunter Liggett Military Reservation, while the complex irrigation networks of the San Joaquin Valley begin to take shape with the Delta-Mendota Canal and the California Aqueduct.

Infrastructure of the late 1950s is detailed through the path of the Southern Pacific railroad and major thoroughfares like U S 101, connecting established hubs like Salinas and Watsonville. Farther inland, the terrain rises into the Gabilan Range, featuring the Pinnacles National Monument, and the high peaks of the Santa Lucia Range. These topographical details provide a clear view of the region's development before the rapid suburbanization of the later twentieth century.