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1978 Map of Tehachapi

Name: 1978 Topographic Map of Tehachapi
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1993
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1993

About this map

Agricultural expansion and mountainous terrain intersect on this late-1970s survey, where the floor of the San Joaquin Valley meets the high ridges of the Tehachapi Mountains. West of the peaks, intensive irrigation is evident around Di Giorgio, Weed Patch, and Arvin, illustrating the industrial scale of California's interior farming. In the north, the Sequoia National Forest covers the steep slopes of the Piute Mountains, while the Kern River flows through the northwest corner toward Bakersfield.

Transportation corridors define the landscape's human geometry, with the Southern Pacific and Atchison Topeka and Santa Fe railroads navigating the complex pass. High-altitude mining is noted at the San Antonio Mine, and aviation hubs like Mojave Airport and Bakersfield Airpark anchor the valley and desert floor respectively. This era of the map captures the region's development before the massive wind farms that would eventually dominate the foothills around Tehachapi.