Published in 1956 from 1952 survey data, the United States Geological Survey’s “Las Vegas Quadrangle” captures southern Nevada at a pivotal moment, when Las Vegas was still a compact desert city poised on the edge of extraordinary growth. At a scale of 1:62,500, it presents the city, North Las Vegas, and the surrounding Mojave landscape with the restrained precision characteristic of mid-century USGS cartography. The title itself is evocative: a “quadrangle” suggests not merely a city plan, but a measured scientific portrait of terrain, drainage, settlement, and infrastructure. Seen today, the map is especially compelling because it records Las Vegas just before the great acceleration of resort development, suburban expansion, and highway-era transformation that would reshape the valley.

The USGS brought to this map the rigorous visual language that made its topographical sheets indispensable to engineers, planners, geologists, military users, and travelers. Contour lines articulate the valley floor and surrounding rises with quiet authority, giving form to slopes, mesas, washes, and desert margins that might otherwise appear empty on a less sophisticated map. Color differentiates urbanized areas, roads, drainage, and terrain, allowing the eye to move easily between human settlement and the arid geography that governed it. This is not a decorative fantasy of the American West, but a disciplined survey of place: empirical, elegant, and deeply revealing. Its beauty lies in the tension between precision and vastness.

Las Vegas appears here before it became synonymous with mega-resorts, luminous boulevards, and seemingly endless metropolitan growth. The map’s urban footprint is modest by modern standards, making the city’s later expansion all the more striking. North Las Vegas is present as a distinct settlement, while routes, roads, and open desert spaces show how development remained tied to transportation corridors and access to water. Areas associated today with later suburban landmarks, such as the western valley around Desert Breeze Park, would have read primarily as desert terrain. Likewise, the landscape connected with the Springs Preserve recalls the deeper environmental history of the valley, where natural springs sustained Indigenous communities, travelers, ranching, and early town life.

Beyond the city, the map’s most eloquent subject is the Mojave Desert itself. Las Vegas Wash, a critical drainage feature of the valley, threads through the terrain as part of the region’s hydrological structure, reminding the viewer that even desert cities are shaped by water. Whitney Mesa and neighboring elevated ground provide topographic contrast, their contours revealing the subtle architecture of the basin. The sheet also hints at the utilitarian landscape beyond the urban grid: open lands, possible mine locations, military-related sites, and routes reaching toward the wider Southwest. In the early Cold War years, southern Nevada was not only a place of tourism and settlement, but also of extraction, defense, and federal presence.

As a historical document, the “Las Vegas Quadrangle” is particularly resonant because it freezes the valley at a threshold. The Hoover Dam era had already transformed the region’s prospects, and legalized gambling had begun to define the city’s identity, yet the explosive postwar resort economy was still gathering force. Within a few decades, many of the open spaces, roads, and desert margins shown here would be absorbed into metropolitan Las Vegas. The map therefore offers more than orientation; it offers perspective. Its contour lines, road traces, washes, and settlement patterns reveal the underlying geography on which modern Las Vegas was built, making it a refined and fascinating record of a desert city before it became an international symbol.

Cities, towns and places on this map

• Las Vegas
• North Las Vegas
• Whitney Mesa
• Craig Road
• Mojave Desert
• Las Vegas Wash
• Springs Preserve
• Desert Breeze Park
• Interstates and major roads
• Estimated locations for potential mines and military sites

Historical context & cartographic details

• Produced by the United States Geological Survey (USGS)
• Historical 1:62,500 topographical map of Las Vegas, Nevada and the surrounding area
• Based on 1952 survey data and published with a 1956 imprint
• Uses classic USGS topographical styling, including contour lines to show elevation changes
• Employs color to distinguish different terrain types, land use, urban areas and natural landscapes
• Shows Las Vegas in the early 1950s, shortly before its major expansion into a resort and entertainment hub
• Records a landscape that has changed significantly through later urban development in the Las Vegas area

Looking for a particular place? Review the detailed images to confirm that the town, landmark or feature you have in mind appears on the map. If you are unsure, ask our workshop to check before you order.

Detailed maps are especially rewarding at larger sizes, where names, boundaries and decorative features have more room to be appreciated. Use the close-up preview and size guide to choose the right scale for your wall.

This map looks amazing at sizes all the way up to 50in (125cm). If you are looking for a larger map, please get in touch.

The model in the listing images is holding the 16x20in (40x50cm) version of this map.

Where personalisation is available, you can add a short title or dedication, mark one meaningful place, or request one considered visual detail. See personalised map examples.

Every piece is printed to museum-grade archival standards using fade-resistant pigment inks on acid-free matte paper. Choose an unframed map print, framed map or canvas using the finish options above. Framed maps use crystal-clear optical acrylic and arrive ready to hang.

With its rich detail and strong sense of place, this map makes a considered gift for a new home, anniversary, retirement or anyone with a personal connection to the area shown. Still deciding? Explore our collection of rare old and vintage maps to discover another place, period or style.

This map is also available as a float framed canvas, sometimes known as a shadow gap framed canvas or canvas floater. The map is printed on artist's cotton canvas and then stretched over a handmade box frame. We then "float" the canvas inside a wooden frame, which is available in a range of colours (black, dark brown, oak, antique gold and white). This is a wonderful way to present a map without glazing in front. See some examples of float framed canvas maps and explore the differences between my different finishes.

For something truly unique, this map is also available in "Unique 3D", our trademarked process that dramatically transforms the map so that it has a wonderful sense of depth. We combine the original map with detailed topography and elevation data, so that mountains and the terrain really "pop". For more info and examples of 3D maps, check my Unique 3D page.