Published in 1983 from 1967 USGS survey work, “Cedar Rapids North” captures a decisive late-twentieth-century moment in the growth of Iowa’s second-largest city. At the precise 1:24,000 scale of the Geological Survey’s standard quadrangle series, the map presents Cedar Rapids not as an abstract urban label, but as a living arrangement of streets, rail corridors, river bends, industrial zones, parks, and neighborhoods. Its title reflects the quadrangle’s focus on the northern portion of the metropolitan area, where the city’s built fabric meets open land, wooded margins, and floodplain terrain. The resulting portrait is both scientific and evocative: a measured record of place at a time when Cedar Rapids was expanding outward, yet still closely shaped by the Cedar River and the Midwestern landscape surrounding it.

The U.S. Geological Survey brought to this map the institutional rigor that made its quadrangle series indispensable to engineers, planners, hikers, historians, and local governments. Founded in the late nineteenth century to classify and understand the nation’s lands, the USGS developed a cartographic language of remarkable clarity: contour lines for elevation, blue for water, green for vegetation, black for cultural features, and red or purple for revisions and major roads. In “Cedar Rapids North,” that language turns a complex urban and natural setting into an elegantly ordered visual system. The map’s disciplined topographical style allows the viewer to read not only where things are, but how they relate—how roads follow grades, how neighborhoods occupy higher ground, and how waterways carve their influence through the city.

The Cedar River is the central geographic presence, giving structure to the map’s landscape and to Cedar Rapids itself. Its floodplain, bends, adjacent lowlands, and nearby developed areas reveal why the river has long been both an asset and a hazard for the city. Smaller waterways such as Squaw Creek add another layer to the drainage pattern, tracing local relief and connecting green spaces, wooded strips, and open land. The contour lines, subtle but essential, show the rise and fall of the surrounding terrain, distinguishing uplands from river-bottom ground and helping explain the placement of roads, rail lines, and industrial districts. Bodies of water, parks, and vegetated areas soften the urban grid, showing a metropolitan landscape still strongly interwoven with natural features.

Cedar Rapids appears here alongside neighboring communities and places including Marion, Hiawatha, Ely, and the wider regional connections toward Coralville and the Iowa City corridor. Major transportation routes such as U.S. Route 30 and Interstate 380 underscore the city’s growing role in regional movement, commerce, and suburban expansion. Rail lines thread through the mapped area as reminders of Cedar Rapids’ industrial and agricultural importance, linking mills, warehouses, factories, and distribution zones to the broader Midwest. Municipal facilities, neighborhood grids, and developing edges reveal a city in transition: dense in its established districts, increasingly dispersed at its margins, and tied together by infrastructure. For anyone interested in urban history, the map offers a precise snapshot of how Cedar Rapids organized itself in the decades after World War II.

As a historical document, “Cedar Rapids North” is especially compelling because it records the interplay between planned development and inherited geography. Parks such as Fountains Park, wooded tracts, floodplain areas, residential neighborhoods, and industrial corridors are all rendered with the same impartial exactness, inviting comparison between civic ambition and natural constraint. The map shows the Cedar Rapids area before later waves of suburban buildout, highway modification, flood-control work, and urban redevelopment altered the region’s appearance. Its topographical detail makes it possible to reconstruct vanished landscapes, older road alignments, and the spatial logic of late-1960s settlement as preserved in the 1983 publication. More than a city map, it is a finely measured portrait of a Midwestern place at a particular historical threshold.

Cities, towns and places on this map

• Cedar Rapids
• Marion
• Ely
• Hiawatha
• Coralville
• The Cedar River
• Squaw Creek
• Various parks, including Fountains Park
• Various roads, including US Route 30 and Interstate 380
• Rail lines
• Neighborhoods within Cedar Rapids
• Green spaces and wooded areas
• Bodies of water, including lakes and rivers
• Floodplain areas
• Industrial zones
• Municipal facilities

Historical context & cartographic details

• Map Name: Cedar Rapids North
• Publisher/Mapmaker: Produced by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)
• Map Creation Date: 1967, with a publication date of 1983
• Scale: 1:24,000 topographical map
• Mapmaker Significance: The USGS is known for reliable, detailed geographic information based on scientific research and mapping.
• Cartographic Style: Classic USGS topographical style, using contour lines to show elevation changes and varied colors to distinguish land use, vegetation, and water features.
• Topographic Character: Shows a mix of urban areas, rivers, green spaces, and changing elevations across the region.
• Historical Context: Reflects the geography and urban spread of Cedar Rapids in the late 20th century, offering insight into the area’s development over time.

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.