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1954 Map of Socorro

Name: 1954 Topographic Map of Socorro
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1972
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1972

About this map

The Rio Grande valley serves as a central artery for transportation and settlement in the mid-1950s, flanked by the Atchison Topeka And Santa Fe railroad and the historical villages of Belen, Isleta, and Los Lunas. This survey captures a transition between the irrigated valley floor and the high-desert mesa country, where expansive tribal lands like the Acoma Indian Reservation and Laguna Indian Reservation dominate the western horizon. To the east, the rugged peaks of the Manzano Mountains and Sandia Mts shelter early mountain communities including Tajique, Torreon, and Manzano.

Industry and resource extraction are visible in the high country, notably at the Torrance Mine and the timbered reaches of the Cibola National Forest. Cultural and administrative boundaries are densely packed here, from the Gran Quivira Nat Mon in the southeast to the sprawling Sandia US Mil Res near the growing hub of Albuquerque. Ground-level details such as Turquoise Spring and Blue Water Spring highlight the critical importance of water sources in this arid landscape.