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1959 Map of Zaca Creek

Name: 1959 Topographic Map of Zaca Creek
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1960
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1960

About this map

The Zaca Oil Field and the surrounding canyon country define this 1959 topographic survey of Santa Barbara County. The landscape is marked by industrial activity amidst the ranching traditions of the Central Coast, with numerous Oil Wells and an Oil Sump concentrated in the northeast near Zaca Creek. The map documents the persistent boundaries of historic land grants, including Corral de Quati and Laguna de la Purisima, which shape the modern parcels of Rancho Santa Ynez and Barham Ranch.

Infrastructure in the area centers on the north-south corridor of Highway 101, which traverses the Los Alamos Valley and passes the Zaca Substation. The terrain is characterized by a complex network of ephemeral drainages like Cañada de los Coches and San Antonio Creek cutting through the Purisima Hills and Solomon Hills. Local historians can trace the transition from large-scale ranching to petroleum extraction in this mid-century snapshot.