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1956 Map of Santa Maria

Name: 1956 Topographic Map of Santa Maria
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1979
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1979

About this map

Vandenberg AFB and the Lompoc US Military Disciplinary Barracks anchor the mid-century landscape of northern Santa Barbara County. This 1956 survey, revised in 1969, illustrates a region defined by its diverse geography, from the fertile agricultural plains around Santa Maria and Guadalupe to the high peaks of the Sierra Madre Mountains within the Los Padres National Forest. The coastal infrastructure is dominated by the Southern Pacific railroad corridor, which hugs the shoreline around Point Conception and through small sidings like Sudden and Jalama.

Offshore, the map provides detailed shoreline features for San Miguel Island and Santa Rosa Island, including Cuyler Harbor and Bechers Bay. Inland, the settlement pattern reveals a mix of historic ranching hubs like Santa Ynez and Ballard alongside industrial and military developments. The presence of La Purisima Mission Hist State Park near Lompoc highlights the preservation of the area's colonial heritage amidst the Cold War expansion of the nearby airbase.