{"product_id":"old-map-of-berea-kentucky-by-usgs-1952-richmond-berea-college-kentucky-river","title":"Old Map of Berea, Kentucky by USGS, 1952 – Richmond, Berea College \u0026 Kentucky River","description":"\u003cp\u003eTitled “Berea Quadrangle, Kentucky,” this mid-century topographical map was surveyed in 1952 and published in 1953 by the United States Geological Survey. It captures Berea and its surrounding Madison County landscape at a moment when the region still retained much of its rural character, just before the transformative highway expansion and suburban growth of the later twentieth century. The map’s restrained USGS style—precise, clean, and highly legible—places emphasis on the land itself: its ridges, valleys, streams, roads, and settlements. Berea appears not merely as a town, but as a geographic crossroads shaped by upland terrain, local waterways, educational life, and regional travel routes linking central Kentucky with the Appalachian foothills.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe United States Geological Survey brought to this map the institutional authority of one of America’s most influential scientific mapping agencies. Founded in 1879, the USGS became essential to understanding the nation’s geology, water systems, mineral resources, and terrain, producing quadrangle maps that served engineers, planners, conservationists, military users, and travelers alike. This Berea sheet belongs to that great tradition of practical elegance: a map designed for accuracy, yet visually compelling in its disciplined economy. Its contour lines translate the rising and falling Kentucky land into a readable pattern of elevations, slopes, and drainage. The result is both a technical document and a portrait of place, revealing how human settlement bends around the deeper logic of the terrain.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBerea itself anchors the map, with Berea College standing as one of the area’s defining landmarks. Founded in the nineteenth century and known for its progressive educational mission, the college helped shape the town’s identity as a cultural and intellectual center in eastern Kentucky. Around it, the map records roads, smaller settlements, trails, forested tracts, and agricultural clearings, offering a fine-grained view of the community before the full imprint of modern development. U.S. Route 25 and U.S. Route 421 mark important lines of movement through the region, while the later Interstate 75 corridor underscores how this landscape would become increasingly connected to national transportation networks. The map therefore sits at a fascinating threshold between older local geographies and emerging modern infrastructure.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe topographical character of the Berea Quadrangle is especially compelling. Contour lines and elevation shading reveal a landscape of rolling hills, ridges, stream valleys, and broken uplands, characteristic of the transition between Kentucky’s Bluegrass country and the more rugged terrain to the east. Silver Creek, Salts Fork, and numerous smaller streams articulate the drainage pattern, carving gentle valleys and giving structure to the surrounding countryside. Forested areas and rural roads appear in close relationship to the terrain, showing how travel and settlement followed the easiest passages through the hills. The map’s quiet graphic language allows these landforms to emerge with clarity, making visible the complex physical setting that shaped farming, movement, and community life around Berea.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAs a historical record, this map offers a revealing snapshot of Berea and its environs in the early 1950s. Its roads, trails, waterways, and built features invite comparison with the contemporary landscape, where expansion, highway development, and changing land use have altered patterns visible here in earlier form. Richmond lies to the north as a nearby urban reference point, while the broader Kentucky River system and local tributaries evoke the hydrological networks that long influenced settlement and agriculture in the region. For collectors, historians, and admirers of Kentucky’s geography, the map is rich with layered meaning: scientific precision, regional identity, and the subtle beauty of a landscape recorded at a particular moment in American postwar history.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eCities, towns and places on this map\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eBerea, KY\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eRichmond, KY\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eBerea College\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eKentucky River\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eSalts Fork\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eSilver Creek\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eInterstate Highway 75\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eU.S. Route 25\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eU.S. Route 421\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eNumerous secondary roads and trails\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eValleys and ridges surrounding Berea\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eForested areas\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eStreams and small water bodies\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eHistorical context \u0026amp; cartographic details\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHistorical topographical map of the Berea Quadrangle, Kentucky\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eProduced by the U.S. Geological Survey using survey data from 1952\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eCreated in 1952 and published in 1953\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ePublished by the U.S. Geological Survey, known for extensive mapping and geological research across the United States\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eReflects the geographical features and infrastructure of the Berea area in the early 1950s\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eUseful for comparing historic land use and development with the modern landscape\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eFeatures a clean, minimalist design characteristic of mid-20th-century USGS maps\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eUses elevation shading and contour lines to show terrain and topographical variation\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHighlights the rolling hills, ridges, valleys, and terrain complexity typical of this part of Kentucky\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eLooking for a particular place?\u003c\/strong\u003e Review the detailed images to confirm that the town, landmark or feature you have in mind appears on the map. If you are unsure, \u003ca target=\"”_blank”\" href=\"\/es\/pages\/contact-us\"\u003eask our workshop to check before you order\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eDetailed 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.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis map looks amazing at sizes all the way up to 50in (125cm). If you are looking for a larger map, please \u003ca href=\"\/es\/pages\/contact-us\"\u003eget in touch\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe model in the listing images is holding the 16x20in (40x50cm) version of this map.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhere personalisation is available, you can add a short title or dedication, mark one meaningful place, or request one considered visual detail. \u003ca target=\"”_blank”\" href=\"\/es\/pages\/map-personalisation\"\u003eSee personalised map examples\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eEvery 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.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWith 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 \u003ca target=\"”_blank”\" href=\"\/es\/collections\/all-old-vintage-antique-maps\"\u003erare old and vintage maps\u003c\/a\u003e to discover another place, period or style.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"The Unique Maps Co.","offers":[{"title":"12x16in (30x40cm) \/ Map","offer_id":58764558795136,"sku":null,"price":41.95,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true},{"title":"12x16in (30x40cm) \/ Framed map","offer_id":58764558827904,"sku":null,"price":112.95,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true},{"title":"12x16in (30x40cm) \/ Framed canvas map","offer_id":58764558860672,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true},{"title":"A3 (297x420mm) \/ Map","offer_id":58764558893440,"sku":null,"price":41.95,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true},{"title":"A3 (297x420mm) \/ Framed map","offer_id":58764558926208,"sku":null,"price":112.95,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true},{"title":"A3 (297x420mm) \/ Framed canvas 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