Rare Old Map of South Bend, Indiana, 1958 by USGS: Mishawaka, University of Notre Dame & St. Joseph River
Restored in our London workshop from the original 1959 map and printed to museum-grade archival standards. Full description
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.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
Restored from the original 1959 map and printed to museum-grade archival standards. Full description
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Gift message & custom finish
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.
Every order is custom made, so if you need the size adjusted slightly, or printed on an unusual material, just let us know. We've done thousands of custom orders over the years, so there's (almost) nothing we can't manage.
You can also contact us before you order, if you prefer!
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Published in 1959 from 1958 survey work, the US Geological Survey’s “South Bend West” captures a pivotal moment in the postwar geography...
Continue readingPublished in 1959 from 1958 survey work, the US Geological Survey’s “South Bend West” captures a pivotal moment in the postwar geography of northern Indiana. Drawn at the authoritative 1:24,000 scale, it presents South Bend not merely as a city plan, but as a living landscape of streets, rivers, rail corridors, schools, hospitals, parks, and expanding neighborhoods. The St. Joseph River threads through the composition, anchoring the city’s historic relationship with industry, transport, and settlement. Red urban tinting marks the built environment with crisp clarity, while greens, browns, and contour lines reveal the subtler terrain beneath the city’s modern grid. It is a finely observed portrait of South Bend at the threshold of mid-century transformation.
The mapmaker, the United States Geological Survey, brought to this sheet the disciplined precision that made its topographic series indispensable to engineers, planners, scientists, and travelers. Founded in the nineteenth century to study the nation’s lands and resources, the USGS became the cartographic authority for measuring America in exacting detail. Here, that institutional rigor is evident in every contour, road classification, railway line, and hydrographic feature. The result is a map that balances utility with understated beauty: a scientific document that also reads as a cultural artifact. In “South Bend West,” the USGS records not only elevation and infrastructure, but the spatial logic of a growing Midwestern city.
South Bend’s late-1950s urban fabric is especially compelling. The map shows residential neighborhoods spreading outward from the older core, with schools, medical institutions, and civic landmarks embedded in the cityscape. Central High School, Memorial Hospital, Indiana University South Bend, and the broader cultural presence of the University of Notre Dame speak to the city’s educational and institutional importance. Parks such as Rum Village Park, Howard Park, and the grounds around Potawatomi Zoo lend texture to the urban pattern, offering green counterpoints to the gridded streets and industrial corridors. The nearby communities of Mishawaka and Granger situate South Bend within a wider regional constellation of towns, roads, and suburban growth.
Transportation gives the map much of its historical energy. US Route 31, railway lines, and the South Bend International Airport illustrate a city connected by road, rail, and air at a moment when American mobility was rapidly changing. The railroads recall South Bend’s industrial past, while the airport and highways point toward the modern, automobile-oriented landscape of the second half of the twentieth century. These routes also frame the city’s relationship to Lake Michigan and the wider Great Lakes region, whose economic and geographic influence shaped northern Indiana. Small lakes, water bodies, and the winding St. Joseph River add a natural counter-rhythm to the engineered routes of movement.
Topographically, “South Bend West” rewards close reading. The contour lines disclose gentle hills, valleys, and drainage patterns that might be invisible in the city itself, revealing how settlement adapted to the underlying land. Color-coding distinguishes urban density from parkland, open ground, and natural features, allowing the eye to move easily between human development and physical geography. This is a map of transition: rural edges giving way to subdivisions, old transport arteries intersecting with new infrastructure, and civic institutions expanding within a changing metropolitan landscape. As a historical view of South Bend in 1958, it preserves the city’s form, ambitions, and environment with elegant cartographic precision.
Cities, towns and places on this map
- South Bend, Indiana
- Mishawaka, Indiana
- Granger, Indiana
- Lake Michigan
- St. Joseph River
- Rum Village Park
- Potawatomi Zoo
- Howard Park
- Concord Village
- Central High School
- Indiana University South Bend
- University of Notre Dame
- Memorial Hospital
- South Bend International Airport
- Various lakes and small water bodies
- US Route 31
- Railways
- Residential neighborhoods
- Various parks and green spaces
Historical context & cartographic details
- Historical 1:24,000 topographical map of South Bend, Indiana and surrounding areas.
- Created in 1958 and published with a 1959 imprint.
- Produced by the US Geological Survey, known for detailed topographic mapping and geographic data collection across the United States.
- Reflects the urban layout and development of South Bend in the late 1950s.
- Shows a period of growth and changing land use in and around South Bend.
- Uses color-coding to distinguish urban areas, highlighted in red, from natural landscapes, shown in greens and browns.
- Includes contour lines to indicate elevation changes, hills, and valleys.
- Highlights South Bend’s cultural and historical significance, including its connection to the University of Notre Dame.
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.
Published in 1959 from 1958 survey work, the US Geological Survey’s “South Bend West” captures a pivotal moment in the postwar geography of northern Indiana. Drawn at the authoritative 1:24,000 scale, it presents South Bend not merely as a city plan, but as a living landscape of streets, rivers, rail corridors, schools, hospitals, parks, and expanding neighborhoods. The St. Joseph River threads through the composition, anchoring the city’s historic relationship with industry, transport, and settlement. Red urban tinting marks the built environment with crisp clarity, while greens, browns, and contour lines reveal the subtler terrain beneath the city’s modern grid. It is a finely observed portrait of South Bend at the threshold of mid-century transformation.
The mapmaker, the United States Geological Survey, brought to this sheet the disciplined precision that made its topographic series indispensable to engineers, planners, scientists, and travelers. Founded in the nineteenth century to study the nation’s lands and resources, the USGS became the cartographic authority for measuring America in exacting detail. Here, that institutional rigor is evident in every contour, road classification, railway line, and hydrographic feature. The result is a map that balances utility with understated beauty: a scientific document that also reads as a cultural artifact. In “South Bend West,” the USGS records not only elevation and infrastructure, but the spatial logic of a growing Midwestern city.
South Bend’s late-1950s urban fabric is especially compelling. The map shows residential neighborhoods spreading outward from the older core, with schools, medical institutions, and civic landmarks embedded in the cityscape. Central High School, Memorial Hospital, Indiana University South Bend, and the broader cultural presence of the University of Notre Dame speak to the city’s educational and institutional importance. Parks such as Rum Village Park, Howard Park, and the grounds around Potawatomi Zoo lend texture to the urban pattern, offering green counterpoints to the gridded streets and industrial corridors. The nearby communities of Mishawaka and Granger situate South Bend within a wider regional constellation of towns, roads, and suburban growth.
Transportation gives the map much of its historical energy. US Route 31, railway lines, and the South Bend International Airport illustrate a city connected by road, rail, and air at a moment when American mobility was rapidly changing. The railroads recall South Bend’s industrial past, while the airport and highways point toward the modern, automobile-oriented landscape of the second half of the twentieth century. These routes also frame the city’s relationship to Lake Michigan and the wider Great Lakes region, whose economic and geographic influence shaped northern Indiana. Small lakes, water bodies, and the winding St. Joseph River add a natural counter-rhythm to the engineered routes of movement.
Topographically, “South Bend West” rewards close reading. The contour lines disclose gentle hills, valleys, and drainage patterns that might be invisible in the city itself, revealing how settlement adapted to the underlying land. Color-coding distinguishes urban density from parkland, open ground, and natural features, allowing the eye to move easily between human development and physical geography. This is a map of transition: rural edges giving way to subdivisions, old transport arteries intersecting with new infrastructure, and civic institutions expanding within a changing metropolitan landscape. As a historical view of South Bend in 1958, it preserves the city’s form, ambitions, and environment with elegant cartographic precision.
Cities, towns and places on this map
- South Bend, Indiana
- Mishawaka, Indiana
- Granger, Indiana
- Lake Michigan
- St. Joseph River
- Rum Village Park
- Potawatomi Zoo
- Howard Park
- Concord Village
- Central High School
- Indiana University South Bend
- University of Notre Dame
- Memorial Hospital
- South Bend International Airport
- Various lakes and small water bodies
- US Route 31
- Railways
- Residential neighborhoods
- Various parks and green spaces
Historical context & cartographic details
- Historical 1:24,000 topographical map of South Bend, Indiana and surrounding areas.
- Created in 1958 and published with a 1959 imprint.
- Produced by the US Geological Survey, known for detailed topographic mapping and geographic data collection across the United States.
- Reflects the urban layout and development of South Bend in the late 1950s.
- Shows a period of growth and changing land use in and around South Bend.
- Uses color-coding to distinguish urban areas, highlighted in red, from natural landscapes, shown in greens and browns.
- Includes contour lines to indicate elevation changes, hills, and valleys.
- Highlights South Bend’s cultural and historical significance, including its connection to the University of Notre Dame.
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.
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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