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1951 Map of Topock

Name: 1951 Topographic Map of Topock
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1951
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1951

About this map

The Colorado River carves a dramatic path through the Mohave Mountains and Chemehuevi Mountains in this early 1950s survey of the Arizona-California border. The landscape is a study in Western infrastructure and natural conservation, featuring the sprawling Havasu Lake National Wildlife Refuge alongside the industrial utility of the Atchison Topeka and Santa Fe railroad and the National Old Trails Road.

Resource extraction and transportation define the uplands, with operations like the Jackpot Mine and Gold Dome Mine situated near the river's edge. Below the sharp bend at Blankenship Bend, the river widens into Havasu Lake, revealing a complex shoreline of inlets such as Castle Rock Bay and Catfish Bay. This period captures the region after the completion of Parker Dam, showing the established reservoir and the isolated outposts of Topock and Franconia before modern interstate development.