Titled “Seattle South,” this US Geological Survey topographical map presents the city and its southern environs through survey data gathered in 1949 and issued with a 1969 imprint, giving it a fascinating double perspective: a postwar landscape seen through the lens of late-1960s cartographic publication. Seattle appears here as a city defined by water, hills, industry, and expanding neighborhoods, with Elliott Bay, Lake Washington, the Duwamish River, and the Ship Canal structuring the composition. The map’s distinctive USGS palette—pink for dense urban fabric, blue for water, and finely drawn contour lines for relief—transforms technical geographic information into an elegant portrait of place. It captures Seattle at a moment when its modern metropolitan form was rapidly emerging.

The US Geological Survey, founded in 1879, became one of the most respected mapping institutions in the world by combining field science, standardized surveying, and precise graphic design. “Seattle South” belongs to the agency’s celebrated topographic tradition, in which every contour, shoreline, road, rail line, and built-up area is rendered with disciplined clarity. Rather than emphasizing political boundaries or picturesque embellishment, the map reveals the city as terrain: a layered interplay of elevation, drainage, transportation, and settlement. Its contour lines describe the rises of Beacon Hill, Capitol Hill, West Seattle, and the ridges around Rainier Valley, while the water bodies provide strong visual anchors. The result is both a practical survey document and a remarkably rich historical landscape.

Seattle’s dramatic relationship with water dominates the map. Elliott Bay opens westward into Puget Sound, framing the historic waterfront and the approaches to Pioneer Square, while Lake Washington forms the city’s eastern edge and surrounds Mercer Island with broad expanses of blue. The Ship Canal links Lake Union and Lake Washington to Puget Sound, illustrating the engineered waterway that helped shape Seattle’s maritime and industrial growth. South Lake Union, now synonymous with modern development, appears in an earlier urban context, still closely tied to transportation corridors and working districts. Alki Beach, Fauntleroy, Lincoln Park, and Seward Park mark the city’s quieter shoreline landscapes, contrasting with the dense port and riverine industry along the Duwamish.

The map is especially compelling for its depiction of mid-century Seattle’s neighborhoods and transport network. West Seattle, the West Seattle Junction, Beacon Hill, Rainier Valley, Ballard, Interbay, Green Lake, Northgate, Shoreline, and Lake Forest Park all appear within a web of roads, railroads, waterways, and urban blocks. The University of Washington anchors the northeast portion of the city, while Boeing Field and the industrial corridor of the Duwamish River point to Seattle’s aviation, manufacturing, and logistical importance. Highways, including Interstate 5, reveal the era’s transformation of metropolitan movement, cutting through the older grain of streets and neighborhoods. Seen today, these routes make the map a record of the city just as automobile infrastructure was redefining its geography.

As a historical document, “Seattle South” offers a vivid benchmark for understanding how Seattle has changed since the mid-twentieth century. Areas now associated with dense redevelopment, technology campuses, and intensified urban living appear in a more transitional form, while parks, hills, lakes, and shorelines provide enduring points of continuity. The topographic detail invites close study of how settlement adapted to steep slopes, valleys, waterways, and reclaimed industrial land. Mercer Island, Lake Washington, Alki, Seward Park, and the Duwamish corridor all carry stories of growth, connection, and environmental transformation. Elegant in its restraint and authoritative in its detail, the map captures Seattle not as a skyline, but as a living terrain shaped by geology, water, engineering, and ambition.

Cities, towns and places on this map

• Seattle
• Mercer Island
• Elliott Bay
• Lake Washington
• Duwamish River
• Alki Beach
• West Seattle
• Beacon Hill
• Capitol Hill
• Ballard
• University of Washington
• Pioneer Square
• Rainier Valley
• South Lake Union
• Boeing Field
• Seward Park
• Lincoln Park
• Shoreline
• Northgate
• Lake Forest Park
• Interbay
• Green Lake
• Fauntleroy
• West Seattle Junction
• Ship Canal
• Various railroads and highways, including Interstate 5

Historical context & cartographic details

• Historical topographical map produced by the US Geological Survey.
• Survey data dates from 1949, with publication in 1969.
• Published by the USGS, an agency known for scientific research and detailed mapping.
• Features distinctive USGS color coding, including pink tones for urban areas and blue for water bodies.
• Includes contour lines and elevation markings to show hills and changes in terrain.
• Provides insight into mid-20th-century urban development and land use.
• Useful for comparing historical geography with the modern urban layout.

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.