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1961 Map of Skull Mountain

Name: 1961 Topographic Map of Skull Mountain
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1979
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1979

About this map

The Nevada Test Site dominates this landscape in the early 1960s, a period marked by intense atomic research and nuclear testing programs. Cold War infrastructure is prominently displayed, including the specialized Area 400 and Area 401 facilities, alongside a Radioactive Waste Dump and an extensive Underground Telephone Line network. The map reveals the tension between natural landforms like Skull Mountain and the high-tech, secretive activities of the Atomic Energy Commission.

Among the arid terrain of Jackass Flats and Cane Spring Flat, the map records the Wahmonie (Site), a vestige of earlier mining history. Essential desert landmarks like Cane Spring and the Horn Cutoff provide a sharp contrast to the nearby Radio Tower and modern Cane Spring Road. This survey documents a critical transition as remote desert valleys like Pluto Valley were repurposed for the nation's nuclear testing mission.