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1961 Map of Turner Ranch

Name: 1961 Topographic Map of Turner Ranch
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1990
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1990

About this map

Turner Island and the surrounding San Joaquin Valley wetlands define this landscape during the early 1960s, a period marked by extensive water management for both conservation and agriculture. The eastern portion of the sheet is dominated by the Merced National Wildlife Refuge, featuring a complex network of wetlands like Duck Pond and the Headquarters facility near East Side Bypass. This map captures a specialized landscape where private recreational ventures such as the Flynn Duck Club and Visalia Duck Club neighbor industrial-scale waterworks.

Heavy engineering is evident in the man-made diversions like the Mariposa Bypass and the intricate Pick Anderson Ditch system, which redirects the natural flow of the San Joaquin River and Mariposa Slough. Local ranching history is preserved through labels for the Crane Ranch and McNamara Ranch, while numerous dikes and levees, including the Belmont Levee, illustrate the ongoing effort to tame the river's seasonal fluctuations.