Titled “Kensington,” this United States Geological Survey quadrangle was created in 1946 and published with a 1947 imprint, capturing northwest Georgia at a moment of postwar transition. At a scale of 1:24,000, it presents Chickamauga, Kensington, and the surrounding countryside with the careful precision for which USGS topographic mapping is renowned. The sheet belongs to an era when federal survey work combined field observation, engineering discipline, and elegant cartographic restraint, producing maps that were both practical tools and historical records. Its contours, roads, streams, wooded areas, and settlement patterns preserve a landscape still largely rural, before later suburban expansion and highway development reshaped the corridor between Chickamauga and nearby Chattanooga.

The map’s topographic language is especially compelling: contour lines gather tightly along ridges and slopes, then relax across valley floors, revealing the folded terrain that defines this part of Georgia. Lookout Mountain, Missionary Ridge, Taylor Ridge, Pigeon Mountain, and McLemore Cove form a dramatic regional setting, their names evoking both geological force and military history. The green tonal scheme and carefully layered symbols distinguish wooded ground, open land, waterways, roads, and elevation in a manner characteristic of mid-twentieth-century USGS design. Rather than merely naming places, the map explains their physical relationships: how creeks cut through lowlands, how roads follow easier grades, and how communities developed in the spaces between ridges.

Chickamauga gives the map much of its historical resonance. The nearby Chickamauga Battlefield marks one of the most significant engagements of the American Civil War, fought in September 1863 as Union and Confederate forces struggled for control of Chattanooga and the gateway into the Deep South. The surrounding geography shown here—ridges, gaps, coves, streams, and roads—was not incidental to that campaign; it shaped movement, visibility, defense, and retreat. Places such as Missionary Ridge and Lookout Mountain remain inseparable from the military geography of the region. This map, made more than eighty years after the battle, still preserves the terrain that made Chickamauga strategically important.

Beyond the battlefield, the sheet records the everyday geography of rural Walker County and its environs. Kensington appears among a network of local roads, churches, ferries, branches, and creek crossings, with names such as Camp Cummings, Miller’s Ferry, Long Branch, McLemore Church, Dry Creek, Chickamauga Creek, and West Chickamauga Creek anchoring the landscape in local memory. U.S. Route 27 and smaller roads are depicted in practical detail, showing the transportation framework that connected farms, settlements, and regional markets before the dominance of later expressways and suburban corridors. The map’s attention to minor waterways and rural features gives it a quiet richness, making visible the infrastructure of daily life.

As a historical document, “Kensington” offers a valuable snapshot of northwest Georgia in 1946, when the patterns of land use still reflected agriculture, small communities, battlefield preservation, and terrain-guided travel. Comparing it with modern mapping reveals changes in population, road systems, development, and environmental pressure, while also showing the persistence of older place names and natural forms. The USGS approach gives the map an authority that is both scientific and evocative: every contour, creek, road, and settlement participates in a larger portrait of place. For collectors interested in Georgia, Civil War landscapes, Appalachian foothill topography, or mid-century American cartography, this map carries unusual depth and character.

Cities, towns and places on this map

• Chickamauga, Georgia
• Kensington, Georgia
• Chattanooga, Tennessee — nearby context
• Lookout Mountain
• Missionary Ridge
• McLemore Cove
• Camp Cummings
• Chickamauga Battlefield
• Miller's Ferry
• Long Branch
• McLemore Church
• Dry Creek
• Pigeon Mountain
• Taylor Ridge
• U.S. Route 27 and other local roads and highways
• Chickamauga Creek, West Chickamauga Creek, and other creeks and streams

Historical context & cartographic details

• Historical USGS 1:24,000 topographical map titled “Kensington.”
• Created in 1946 and published with a 1947 imprint.
• Produced by the United States Geological Survey, known for detailed and reliable topographic mapping.
• Uses varying shades of green to indicate elevation, vegetation, and land types.
• Employs contour lines to show hills, valleys, and changes in elevation, with closely spaced contours marking steeper terrain.
• Provides a snapshot of the area before extensive later urban development and infrastructure changes.
• Useful for comparing mid-20th-century land use, settlement patterns, population growth, and environmental change with modern maps.

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.