1971 Map of Waddell

About this map

Luke Air Force Base occupies the southeastern corner of this orthophotoquad, showing the early 1970s footprint of the facility's runways and support structures. The landscape is a stark study in the transition between the arid terrain to the west and the organized geometry of agriculture to the east. Agricultural development, marked by the rigid grid of fields and groves, is serviced by the Beardsley Canal, which cuts through the transition zone where the alluvial fans meet the valley floor. Small residential clusters like Waddell and Citrus Park appear as modest outposts within this expansive farming region. The aerial imagery captured in 1971 reveals the systematic layout of the desert irrigation system before the rapid suburbanization of Maricopa County reached this far west.