Titled “Mount Scott,” this United States Geological Survey topographical map captures a dramatic corner of southwestern Oklahoma at the precise 1:24,000 scale. Created from 1956 mapping and issued with a 1973 imprint, it preserves the landscape around Medicine Park before later decades of development altered the balance between resort town, roadway, reservoir, and open terrain. The map’s focus is Mount Scott itself, one of the best-known summits of the Wichita Mountains, rising above Lake Lawtonka and the surrounding plains. With its careful contours, road network, watercourses, and named localities, the sheet offers both a scientific record and a richly evocative portrait of a mid-century Oklahoma landscape shaped by geology, recreation, and settlement.

The USGS brought to this map the rigorous visual language that made its topographic sheets indispensable to engineers, hikers, planners, and historians. Founded in 1879, the United States Geological Survey became the nation’s leading authority on landform measurement, mineral resources, hydrology, and cartographic standardization. Its 1:24,000 quadrangles are especially admired for their clarity: every contour, road, stream, and cultural feature is fitted into a precise grid of geographic knowledge. On “Mount Scott,” that discipline is evident in the dense contouring around the mountain slopes, the measured delineation of Cache Creek, and the crisp depiction of Highway 49 as it threads through this rugged recreational landscape.

The map’s design is particularly appealing, using earthy elevation tones and vivid green vegetation markings to emphasize the contrast between the rocky uplands and flatter, more open ground. Contour lines do much of the intellectual work, describing the rise and fall of the Wichita Mountain terrain with a sculptural precision that rewards close study. Around Mount Scott, the tight spacing of contours conveys steepness and mass, while gentler intervals near Lake Lawtonka and Medicine Park suggest more accessible valleys, shorelines, and developed corridors. This is topography as both data and artistry: a composed visual field in which relief, drainage, roads, and human presence are balanced with uncommon elegance.

Medicine Park appears as one of the map’s most compelling human landmarks. Founded in the early twentieth century as a resort community, it became known for its cobblestone architecture, mineral-spring associations, and proximity to the Wichita Mountains. On this sheet, the town is shown in intimate relation to Lake Lawtonka, Mount Scott Park, the Medicine Park Campground, and the roadways that draw visitors into the hills. Highway 49 marks a vital access route through the area, while unnamed roads and trails hint at local movement, recreation, and land management. The result is a cartographic snapshot of a place where leisure, infrastructure, and wild terrain meet.

Historically, the map is valuable for the moment it preserves: a mid-century landscape poised between rural ruggedness and expanding modern use. Lake Lawtonka, Cache Creek, Mount Scott, and the surrounding vegetated slopes are rendered not as scenic abstractions, but as measurable features within a changing regional geography. The 1956 survey data documents land use, roads, and settlement patterns before later suburban growth, tourism pressures, and environmental shifts reshaped the area. For collectors, “Mount Scott” offers more than a view of Oklahoma terrain; it is a disciplined record of place, revealing how federal cartography captured the American landscape at a moment when recreation, conservation, and development were increasingly intertwined.

Cities, towns and places on this map

• Mount Scott
• Medicine Park
• Lake Lawtonka
• Cache Creek
• Mount Scott Park
• Medicine Park Campground
• Highway 49
• Other unnamed roads and trails
• Areas of vegetation and undesignated natural features

Historical context & cartographic details

• Produced by the United States Geological Survey, this historical 1:24,000 topographical map shows Medicine Park, Oklahoma, and the surrounding area.
• The map is dated 1956 and carries a 1973 imprint.
• The USGS is known for its comprehensive mapping and surveying work across the United States.
• The USGS has played a crucial role in geospatial research, providing valuable data for civil planning, environmental studies, and related fields.
• The map uses a distinctive color scheme, combining earthy tones for elevation with vibrant greens for vegetative areas.
• Contour lines and shading illustrate the hilly, varied terrain characteristic of the region.
• The map reflects mid-20th-century land use and development patterns, showing the area before later urban expansion and environmental changes.
• The color contrast between elevation contours and flatter areas helps clearly depict the geographical character of Medicine Park and its surroundings.

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.