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1957 Map of Trona

Name: 1957 Topographic Map of Trona
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1967
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1967

About this map

Searles Lake and the industrial settlement of Trona anchor this mid-century look at the high desert, where mining operations and military testing grounds dominate the landscape. The map details a complex extraction economy, from the Borax Mine near Boron to a cluster of historic mining sites in the Panamint Range and Slate Range, including the Saratoga and War Eagle mines. Infrastructure of the era is clearly visible, including the Trona Railway and the corridor of the Tidewater and Tonopah.

Extensive federal tracts like the Naval Ordnance Test Station and Fort Irwin Military Reservation highlight the region's strategic importance during the Cold War. Smaller mining camps and settlements such as Randsburg, Johannesburg, and Atolia provide valuable data for genealogists tracing family ties to the California desert. The terrain is marked by dry lake beds like Koehn Lake and Soda Lake, alongside the path of the Old Spanish Trail.