Rare Old Map of Fire Island, New York by USGS, 1944: Great South Bay, Bay Shore & Islip
Restored in our London workshop from the original map and printed to museum-grade archival standards. Full description
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Choose two eligible works and receive 20% off both. Choose three and the lowest-priced one is complimentary, a maximum saving of 33%.
Mix and match eligible standard maps and fine-art prints. No code is required; the offer is applied automatically at checkout.
Standard made-to-order configurations are included. Bespoke sizes, personalised designs and commissioned work are excluded.
Need delivery to different addresses? Contact us before ordering.The Collector’s Offer
Choose two eligible works and receive 20% off both. Choose three and the lowest-priced one is complimentary, a maximum saving of 33%.
Mix and match eligible standard maps and fine-art prints. No code is required; the offer is applied automatically at checkout.
Standard made-to-order configurations are included. Bespoke sizes, personalised designs and commissioned work are excluded.
Need delivery to different addresses? Contact us before ordering.
Restored in London • Printed and framed in the EU
My maps are rare, museum-grade, restored old maps sourced from libraries, auction houses and private collections across the globe. Full description
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If you want to add a gift message, or a finish (jigsaw, aluminium board, etc.) that is not available here, please request it in the "order note" when you check out.
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Published in 1944 by the United States Geological Survey, “Bay Shore East” captures a finely measured portrait of Fire Island, Great South...
Continue readingPublished in 1944 by the United States Geological Survey, “Bay Shore East” captures a finely measured portrait of Fire Island, Great South Bay, and the southern shore of Long Island at a pivotal mid-twentieth-century moment. Drawn at the detailed 1:24,000 scale, the map belongs to the USGS’s celebrated topographic quadrangle series, designed to record the American landscape with scientific precision and quiet visual elegance. Here, the narrow barrier island of Fire Island is shown as a delicate natural shield between the Atlantic Ocean and the sheltered bay waters to the north. Beaches, marshes, tidal flats, roads, trails, and settlements are all rendered in a cartographic language that balances practical survey work with historical atmosphere.
The United States Geological Survey, founded in 1879, became the nation’s principal authority for mapping terrain, waterways, mineral resources, and changing patterns of settlement. Its topographic maps were indispensable tools for engineers, planners, conservationists, military authorities, and local communities, especially during the 1940s, when accurate geographic knowledge carried heightened national importance. “Bay Shore East” reflects the USGS commitment to consistency and clarity: contours, symbols, hydrographic detail, vegetation tinting, and cultural features are organized into an immediately legible whole. The result is more than a technical document. It is a disciplined visual record of place, showing how federal cartography transformed coastal landscapes into carefully indexed fields of elevation, access, habitation, and natural process.
Fire Island is the central geographic drama of the map, extending as a slender, low-lying ribbon of sand, beach, and marsh along the Atlantic edge of Long Island. Communities such as Ocean Beach appear within a landscape shaped by tides, storms, dunes, and seasonal movement. The map’s treatment of beaches, marshland, and tidal margins is especially evocative, revealing the barrier island not as a fixed line but as a dynamic coastal system. Textured water patterns distinguish ocean, bay, and tidal environments, while green tones identify vegetated areas and natural cover. In this cartographic view, Fire Island emerges as both a resort landscape and a fragile ecological frontier.
North of Fire Island, Great South Bay dominates the composition, its broad sheltered waters linking the island to Bay Shore, Islip, Great Cove, Nicoll Bay, and the intricate inlets and shorelines of Long Island’s south coast. The mapped roads and trails suggest patterns of access and development, while the bays, coves, and marshes speak to older rhythms of fishing, boating, shellfishing, and coastal navigation. The map preserves a moment before later decades of accelerated suburban expansion and environmental change. For historians of Long Island, it offers valuable evidence of settlement patterns, shoreline configuration, wetland extent, and the relationship between mainland communities and the barrier beach communities offshore.
The design of “Bay Shore East” has the understated beauty characteristic of classic USGS topographic work. Elevation changes are expressed through contours and subtle shading, though the coastal terrain is often gently graded, emphasizing the low relief of beaches, marshes, and bay margins. Color coding clarifies the landscape: blues for water, greens for vegetation and natural features, and carefully placed symbols for roads, buildings, and trails. This visual precision allows the viewer to read both human occupation and natural form at once. As a historical map, it is particularly compelling because coastal places are never static; shorelines migrate, marshes shift, communities grow, and storms rewrite the edge of land and sea.
Cities, towns and places on this map
- Fire Island
- Ocean Beach
- Great South Bay
- Bay Shore
- Islip
- Great Cove
- Nicoll Bay
- Tidal areas surrounding Fire Island
- Various roads and trails
- Beaches and marshes
- Nearby waterways and inlets
Historical context & cartographic details
- Published by the United States Geological Survey (USGS)
- Historical map data from 1944
- Shows Fire Island, New York, and surrounding areas
- Topographical map at a scale of 1:24,000
- Uses color coding to distinguish elevations, land use, vegetation, and water bodies
- Includes hachures or shading to indicate contours and elevation changes
- Represents landforms such as beaches, marshes, islands, and tidal areas
- Uses textured water patterns to distinguish ocean, bay, and tidal environments
- Reflects the mid-20th-century geography of Fire Island and the surrounding southern shore of Long Island
- Useful for understanding historical land use, development patterns, and natural features that may have changed 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 18x24in (45x60cm) 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.
Published in 1944 by the United States Geological Survey, “Bay Shore East” captures a finely measured portrait of Fire Island, Great South Bay, and the southern shore of Long Island at a pivotal mid-twentieth-century moment. Drawn at the detailed 1:24,000 scale, the map belongs to the USGS’s celebrated topographic quadrangle series, designed to record the American landscape with scientific precision and quiet visual elegance. Here, the narrow barrier island of Fire Island is shown as a delicate natural shield between the Atlantic Ocean and the sheltered bay waters to the north. Beaches, marshes, tidal flats, roads, trails, and settlements are all rendered in a cartographic language that balances practical survey work with historical atmosphere.
The United States Geological Survey, founded in 1879, became the nation’s principal authority for mapping terrain, waterways, mineral resources, and changing patterns of settlement. Its topographic maps were indispensable tools for engineers, planners, conservationists, military authorities, and local communities, especially during the 1940s, when accurate geographic knowledge carried heightened national importance. “Bay Shore East” reflects the USGS commitment to consistency and clarity: contours, symbols, hydrographic detail, vegetation tinting, and cultural features are organized into an immediately legible whole. The result is more than a technical document. It is a disciplined visual record of place, showing how federal cartography transformed coastal landscapes into carefully indexed fields of elevation, access, habitation, and natural process.
Fire Island is the central geographic drama of the map, extending as a slender, low-lying ribbon of sand, beach, and marsh along the Atlantic edge of Long Island. Communities such as Ocean Beach appear within a landscape shaped by tides, storms, dunes, and seasonal movement. The map’s treatment of beaches, marshland, and tidal margins is especially evocative, revealing the barrier island not as a fixed line but as a dynamic coastal system. Textured water patterns distinguish ocean, bay, and tidal environments, while green tones identify vegetated areas and natural cover. In this cartographic view, Fire Island emerges as both a resort landscape and a fragile ecological frontier.
North of Fire Island, Great South Bay dominates the composition, its broad sheltered waters linking the island to Bay Shore, Islip, Great Cove, Nicoll Bay, and the intricate inlets and shorelines of Long Island’s south coast. The mapped roads and trails suggest patterns of access and development, while the bays, coves, and marshes speak to older rhythms of fishing, boating, shellfishing, and coastal navigation. The map preserves a moment before later decades of accelerated suburban expansion and environmental change. For historians of Long Island, it offers valuable evidence of settlement patterns, shoreline configuration, wetland extent, and the relationship between mainland communities and the barrier beach communities offshore.
The design of “Bay Shore East” has the understated beauty characteristic of classic USGS topographic work. Elevation changes are expressed through contours and subtle shading, though the coastal terrain is often gently graded, emphasizing the low relief of beaches, marshes, and bay margins. Color coding clarifies the landscape: blues for water, greens for vegetation and natural features, and carefully placed symbols for roads, buildings, and trails. This visual precision allows the viewer to read both human occupation and natural form at once. As a historical map, it is particularly compelling because coastal places are never static; shorelines migrate, marshes shift, communities grow, and storms rewrite the edge of land and sea.
Cities, towns and places on this map
- Fire Island
- Ocean Beach
- Great South Bay
- Bay Shore
- Islip
- Great Cove
- Nicoll Bay
- Tidal areas surrounding Fire Island
- Various roads and trails
- Beaches and marshes
- Nearby waterways and inlets
Historical context & cartographic details
- Published by the United States Geological Survey (USGS)
- Historical map data from 1944
- Shows Fire Island, New York, and surrounding areas
- Topographical map at a scale of 1:24,000
- Uses color coding to distinguish elevations, land use, vegetation, and water bodies
- Includes hachures or shading to indicate contours and elevation changes
- Represents landforms such as beaches, marshes, islands, and tidal areas
- Uses textured water patterns to distinguish ocean, bay, and tidal environments
- Reflects the mid-20th-century geography of Fire Island and the surrounding southern shore of Long Island
- Useful for understanding historical land use, development patterns, and natural features that may have changed 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 18x24in (45x60cm) 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.
Many of our maps and art prints are chosen as thoughtful gifts for homes, offices, studies and meaningful places.
Choose a framed option for the easiest ready-to-hang gift, or choose an unframed print if the recipient may prefer to select their own frame.
We make orders locally in 23 countries around the world, so gifts can often be produced close to the recipient. This helps them arrive faster, travel more safely, and avoid customs or import duty surprises.
- We can deliver directly to the recipient
- Framed pieces arrive ready to hang
- Unframed prints are carefully packed in a strong protective tube
- Almost every order is made locally, for faster, safer gifting
- 90-day returns give the recipient time to decide
If you are not sure what to choose, please contact us. We can help you pick the right map, size, finish or delivery option.
Most orders are made locally and delivered in around 2–3 working days, depending on the product, size and destination.
We print and frame maps and artwork in 23 countries around the world, so your order is usually made close to you or your recipient. That means faster delivery, less time in transit, and no customs or import duty surprises.
Personalised and customised pieces usually take an extra 1–2 working days, because we prepare your design and send it to you for approval before printing.
Very large framed orders can take a little longer, as they need extra care in production and delivery.
Every order is carefully packaged: unframed prints are sent in a strong protective tube, while framed pieces are securely packed with protective materials around the frame.
If you need your order by a particular date, please contact us before ordering. We’ll check the best production route and delivery option for your location.
Express delivery is available at checkout for most countries. Next-day delivery is available in the UK, US, Singapore and the UAE.
Your order is covered by our 90-day returns policy and 10-year guarantee.
Our standard frame is a gallery-style black ash hardwood frame, with a simple, modern look. It is approximately 20mm (0.8in) wide. You can also view some lovely customer photos of framed maps and art.
We use super-clear acrylic glazing, also known as Perspex or Acrylite, instead of traditional glass. It is lighter, safer, and has lower reflectivity, giving the artwork a clearer, cleaner appearance.
Six standard frame colours are available at no extra cost: black, dark brown, dark grey, oak, white, and antique gold. Custom framing and mounting/matting is also available for customers looking for something more specific.
Most maps, art prints, and illustrations are also available as a framed canvas. We use matte cotton canvas, stretch it over a sustainably sourced wooden box frame, and then float the piece within a wooden outer frame. The finished result is beautifully presented, with no glazing between you and the artwork.
All frames are supplied ready to hang, with either string or brackets fitted to the back. Very large frames will include heavy-duty hanging plates and/or a mounting baton. If you have any questions, please get in touch.
We can also supply old maps and artwork on canvas, foam board, cotton rag, and other materials.
If you would prefer to frame your map or artwork yourself, please read our size guide before ordering.
Every Unique Maps piece begins with an authentic cartographic source or an original design from our London studio.
For our historic maps, we source rare originals from libraries, archives, auction houses and private collections around the world. We carefully restore each map for print—repairing age-related damage, balancing colour and improving clarity while preserving its original detail, texture and character.
Once restored, the map is prepared for your chosen size and finish. Your piece is then printed and, where selected, framed close to its delivery destination.
Our map prints use acid-free 200gsm archival matte paper and fade-resistant pigment inks, creating a rich, non-glossy finish designed to last. Framed maps use crystal-clear optical acrylic and arrive ready to hang.
Canvas, cotton-rag and other specialist presentations are also available. Learn more about our materials and finishes.
Personalising your map
You can add a short title or dedication, mark one meaningful place, or request one considered visual detail. For personalised designs, we send a proof before printing and you can request changes before approval.
For more complex bespoke commissions, contact our design team.
Original or Aged
Choose Original for true-to-source colour, or Aged for a warmer, richer antique character created with our specialist ageing process. See examples of our Aged maps.
We’ve been restoring and producing maps and art prints since 1984, and we stand behind every piece.
Every order is covered by our 10-year guarantee and damage-free delivery guarantee. If your piece arrives damaged, we’ll replace or remake it free of charge. If anything else isn’t right, contact our workshop team and we’ll put it right promptly.
See our returns and refund policy for full details.
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