Published in 1943, the US Geological Survey’s “Ewell” presents Smith Island and its watery Maryland surroundings at the detailed scale of 1:31,680. The title itself points to Ewell, the principal settlement on Smith Island, a storied Chesapeake Bay community shaped by tide, marsh, and maritime labor. With Tangier Sound to the west and Pocomoke Sound to the east and south, the map captures a landscape where land and water are intricately interlaced. Its soft green mid-century USGS styling, precise grid, and delicate contouring give structure to an exceptionally low-lying coastal world, where even modest changes in elevation matter. As a 1940s topographical record, it preserves a moment in the evolving geography of one of the Chesapeake’s most distinctive island environments.

The US Geological Survey brought to this map the disciplined clarity for which its topographical sheets became famous. Founded in the late nineteenth century, the USGS developed a national mapping program intended to support science, land management, engineering, navigation, and public planning. By the time “Ewell” was issued, these maps had become essential tools for understanding American terrain in both everyday and strategic contexts. The 1943 date gives the sheet additional resonance: during the Second World War, accurate geographic information was a matter of national importance, even for rural and coastal districts. Here, the agency’s methodical cartography transforms the marshes, points, ditches, bays, and settlements of southern Maryland into a rigorously measured landscape, balancing scientific utility with understated visual elegance.

Smith Island dominates the composition, appearing not as a single simple landmass but as a fragile assemblage of ridges, marshes, channels, and inhabited ground. The map’s topographic language is especially compelling in such a low-relief environment: contour lines do not dramatize mountains, but instead reveal the subtle margins between habitable land, tidal wetland, and open water. Features such as Long Point, South Point, and the many small waterways around the island emphasize the constant negotiation between land and Chesapeake tides. Ditch and other named local features suggest the practical infrastructure of drainage, passage, and settlement in a maritime landscape. The result is a finely observed portrait of terrain where small geographic distinctions carry great ecological and human significance.

Beyond Smith Island, the map opens outward into the wider Chesapeake Bay region, connecting island life to a broad network of sounds, bays, and neighboring shores. Tangier Sound, Pocomoke Sound, and Daugherty Bay frame the area as part of a larger estuarine system—one of North America’s most productive and historically important waterways. Deal Island appears to the north, linked by shared patterns of marshland, fishing, crabbing, and boat travel. The place names evoke southern Maryland and the lower Eastern Shore as they were understood in the early 1940s, when communities depended closely on the rhythms of the bay. The map is therefore not merely a record of position, but a window into a working Chesapeake landscape of watermen, skiffs, channels, and seasonal harvests.

As an historical document, “Ewell” is especially valuable for tracing environmental change. Smith Island has long been vulnerable to erosion, subsidence, storms, and rising water, and a 1943 topographical survey provides a benchmark against which later transformations can be measured. Marsh boundaries, shorelines, settlement patterns, and named points shown here invite comparison with present-day maps, revealing the slow but relentless reshaping of the Chesapeake edge. The map’s restrained palette and measured symbology heighten this sense of quiet significance: every contour, grid line, and shoreline carries evidence of a place at once enduring and imperiled. For collectors drawn to coastal history, American scientific cartography, or the fragile beauty of the Chesapeake, this is a richly evocative image of Maryland’s island world.

Cities, towns and places on this map

• Smith Island
• Chesapeake Bay
• Chesapeake County
• Tangier Sound
• Ditch
• Deal Island
• South Point
• Long Point
• Pocomoke Sound
• Hanford County
• Daugherty Bay
• Southern Maryland

Historical context & cartographic details

• Produced by the US Geological Survey, this historical topographical map shows Smith Island in Maryland and the surrounding area.
• Date of creation: 1943.
• Scale: 1:31,680.
• Mapmaker/publisher: US Geological Survey (USGS).
• The USGS is known for comprehensive surveys and topographical maps used in scientific research, planning, resource management, and environmental studies.
• The map prominently includes Smith Island, notable for its unique ecosystem and history.
• The map uses a grid system and contour lines to represent elevation changes.
• The design features a soft green color scheme typical of mid-20th century USGS maps.
• The map shows elevation and terrain features in detail around Smith Island and nearby waters.
• It provides insight into the geography and land use of the area in the early 1940s.
• The map can be used as a basis for historical comparison and studies of environmental change.

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.