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1952 Map of Woody

Name: 1952 Topographic Map of Woody
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1953
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1953

About this map

Granite Station and the settlement of Woody anchor this survey of the Sierra Nevada foothills in Kern County, revealing a landscape defined by ranching and early resource extraction. The topography is deeply incised by drainages such as Rag Gulch and Poso Creek, where the presence of the Round Mountain Oil Field and scattered Oil Tanks indicates the industrial footprint of the era. Genealogists will find a wealth of named homesteads, including the Villard Ranch, Carlton Ranch, and Manny Ranch, reflecting the distributed nature of local land ownership.

Evidence of historical community infrastructure is visible at the Granite School (Aband) and the Halfway House, while the mining history of the region is preserved through labels for the Long Tom Mine and Poso Mine. From the heights of Blue Mtn down to the distinct Chalk Cliff, the map documents a transitional period where traditional ranching coexisted with the emerging petroleum and mining industries of the early 1950s.