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1902 Map of Santa Cruz

Name: 1902 Topographic Map of Santa Cruz
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1904
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1904

About this map

Stanford University and the emerging towns of the Peninsula define the northern reaches of this survey, where the Southern Pacific R. R. connects early hubs like Menlo Park and Palo Alto. Along the rugged coastline, isolated coastal communities such as Pescadero, San Gregorio, and Purisima are linked by winding roads across the steep ridges of Arroyo de la Purisima and El Corte de Madera. The central portion of the sheet is dominated by the wild terrain of the Big Basin and the heights of Ben Lomond Mountain.

To the south, the timber and tourist economy of the San Lorenzo Valley is evident in settlements like Boulder Creek and Ben Lomond, leading down to the coastal city of Santa Cruz. Coastal navigation is marked by critical landmarks including the Pigeon Point lighthouse and Año Nuevo Isd.. This landscape represents a pivotal moment when the Santa Clara Valley was largely agricultural, with Sunnyvale and Cupertino appearing as small village centers long before their modern development.