1948 Map of Santa Rita

About this map

Mining operations dominate this landscape in the late 1940s, centered on the massive Chino Pit and surrounding copper and iron extraction sites. The industrial footprint of the Atchison Topeka and Santa Fe railroad serves a dense network of shafts and tunnels, including the Pewabic Shaft, Oswaldo Mine, and numerous sites marked as abandoned, such as the Emma Tunnel (Abandoned) and Jim Fair Shaft (Abandoned). Settlement patterns are tightly bound to these mineral resources, with worker housing and services clustered at Santa Rita, Hanover, and Fierro. Cultural life is marked by the Sully Sch and several local burial grounds like Fierro Cem and the Georgetown Cem, while the northern portion of the map transitions into the steep, wooded reaches of the Gila National Forest near Avalanche Peak.