Titled “Lexington,” this 1946 United States Geological Survey map presents one of Massachusetts’s most historically resonant landscapes at the detailed scale of 1:31,680. Centered on Lexington and extending across Bedford, Lincoln, Concord, Burlington, Woburn, Billerica, and adjoining communities, it captures the northwestern approaches to Boston in the immediate postwar era. The map’s mid-century USGS styling is both practical and elegant: crisp contour lines articulate the rolling Middlesex County terrain, while roads, waterways, settlement patterns, and a systematic navigational grid are rendered with the disciplined clarity for which federal topographic cartography is celebrated. It is a portrait of a region poised between colonial memory, agricultural continuity, and modern suburban expansion.

The United States Geological Survey brought to this map the authority of an institution central to American land measurement, resource assessment, and civic planning since the late nineteenth century. USGS topographic sheets were designed not merely as navigational tools, but as comprehensive geographic records, balancing scientific precision with visual legibility. In “Lexington,” that tradition is evident in the careful treatment of elevation, drainage, roads, rail connections, and built-up areas. The map’s contour intervals reveal subtle hills and valleys that might otherwise be overlooked in a landscape now often experienced through highways and development. Its restrained color scheme and rigorous symbology reflect a period when cartography served engineers, planners, soldiers, hikers, historians, and local officials alike.

Lexington itself gives the map its enduring historical charge. The town is inseparable from the opening moments of the American Revolutionary War, when the confrontation on Lexington Green in April 1775 became part of the founding mythology of the United States. Sites such as Monument Square and Buckman Tavern evoke that revolutionary landscape, while nearby Concord and Merriam’s Corner extend the geography of the first day’s fighting. The route connecting Lexington, Lincoln, and Concord would later be interpreted through what is now Minuteman National Historical Park, but this 1946 map preserves the area before many layers of commemoration, preservation, and suburbanization fully reshaped it. It shows a living landscape, not merely a shrine to the past.

Beyond its Revolutionary associations, the sheet is rich in the physical geography of eastern Massachusetts. Alewife Brook, the Shawsheen River, Upper Vine Brook, and Lower Vine Brook thread through a terrain of modest uplands, meadows, and low-lying wetlands. Great Meadow and Parker Meadow suggest the ecological texture that long defined the area: marshy basins, open fields, and watercourses feeding broader regional systems. The map also includes Bedford Village, Wilson Farm, and other local landmarks that speak to an older agrarian pattern still visible in 1946. Contour lines and shaded relief emphasize the relationship between settlement and terrain, showing how roads and villages followed ridgelines, stream valleys, and the gently undulating land west of Boston.

The presence of Hanscom Field adds a distinctly twentieth-century layer to the map’s story. Developed from a civilian airfield and expanded during the Second World War, it marks the arrival of aviation, military infrastructure, and postwar technological growth in a region better known for colonial roads and village greens. This juxtaposition is one of the map’s great fascinations: Bedford and Lincoln appear alongside airfield geometry; historic Lexington sits within a network increasingly shaped by automobiles, defense needs, and metropolitan expansion. Since 1946, land use across the sheet has changed dramatically, with suburban development, highway construction, and preservation efforts transforming the historical landscape. As a cartographic record, “Lexington” captures a pivotal moment before those later changes became dominant.

Cities, towns and places on this map

• Lexington, Massachusetts
• Bedford, Massachusetts
• Lincoln, Massachusetts
• Hanscom Field
• Concord, Massachusetts
• Alewife Brook
• Shawsheen River
• Merriam's Corner
• Burlington, Massachusetts
• Great Meadow
• Woburn, Massachusetts
• Minuteman National Historical Park
• Wilson Farm
• Monument Square
• Buckman Tavern
• Bedford Village
• Upper Vine Brook
• Lower Vine Brook
• Billerica, Massachusetts
• Parker Meadow

Historical context & cartographic details

• Produced by the US Geological Survey, this historical 1:31,680 topographical map shows Lexington, Massachusetts and the surrounding area.
• Date of creation: 1946.
• Mapmaker or publisher: US Geological Survey (USGS).
• The USGS is known for detailed and authoritative topographical maps, supporting accurate geographic data for resource management and land-use planning.
• The map prominently features Lexington, Massachusetts, a town with significant historical importance related to the American Revolutionary War.
• The cartographic design uses a color scheme typical of mid-20th-century USGS maps.
• Contour lines indicate elevation changes, with a systematic grid for navigation.
• The map illustrates varying elevations and terrain characteristics, including hills and valleys.
• The area has seen substantial changes since 1946, including urban development and shifts in land use impacting the historical landscape.

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.