Published in 1977 from 1974 mapping, the US Geological Survey’s “Lake City” quadrangle captures a richly textured stretch of the Upper Mississippi landscape where Wisconsin and Minnesota meet. At 1:24,000 scale, it presents the Lake City area with the precision and restraint characteristic of USGS topographic work, while giving special prominence to Stockholm, Wisconsin, on the eastern side of the river. The map belongs to an era when postwar rural road networks, small-town growth, forest management, and riverine land use were being documented with exceptional clarity. Its contours, symbols, and carefully balanced color scheme transform a working survey document into a compelling historical portrait of hills, valleys, water, settlement, and transportation in the mid-1970s.

The most commanding natural feature is the Mississippi River, whose broad course shapes the entire composition. In this region the river is not merely a boundary, but a defining presence: a corridor of movement, commerce, ecology, and settlement. The map records the relationship between river towns, roads, wooded slopes, and low-lying shoreline terrain, allowing the viewer to read how communities developed in response to water and topography. Lake City appears within this river landscape, while Stockholm occupies its Wisconsin counterpart, each connected to the larger geography of the valley. Smaller lakes, ponds, drainage lines, and wetlands add further detail, revealing a landscape formed by water in many scales and moods.

Stockholm, Wisconsin, lends the map particular charm and historical interest. Founded in the nineteenth century by Swedish immigrants, the village is part of the distinctive cultural geography of the Mississippi bluffs, where European settlement patterns mingled with river trade, agriculture, and wooded uplands. On the map, Stockholm is shown not as an isolated place, but as part of a wider network of roads, contours, farms, ridges, and river access points. Nearby Mount Pleasant and surrounding rural features help convey the dispersed settlement pattern typical of this part of the Upper Midwest. The map quietly records the balance between cultivated land, forested slopes, and small population centers before later decades of tourism and preservation reshaped the region’s identity.

The cartography is classic USGS: lucid, disciplined, and dense with meaning. Brown contour lines articulate the rolling hills and valleys that rise away from the Mississippi, making the relief immediately legible to the attentive eye. Blue hydrographic features, black cultural markings, green woodland tints, and red road classifications combine to create a visual language that is both practical and elegant. The traditional topographic style allows every element—roadways, trails, buildings, forest cover, streams, and elevation—to be understood in relation to the whole. This is a map designed for navigation and land study, yet its restrained palette and layered detail give it an enduring aesthetic appeal.

As a historical document, the “Lake City” quadrangle offers a snapshot of the region in the 1970s, before digital mapping transformed how landscapes were recorded and read. It preserves the roadways and trail networks of the period, the apparent extent of wooded land around the Minnesota Memorial Hardwood State Forest, and the spatial relationship between river communities and upland terrain. Its value lies not only in what it names, but in what it reveals: the contours of everyday geography, the imprint of settlement, and the persistence of natural forms beneath human use. For collectors, historians, and admirers of the Mississippi Valley, it is a precise and evocative window onto place.

Cities, towns and places on this map

• Lake City
• Stockholm
• Minnesota Memorial Hardwood State Forest
• Mount Pleasant
• Mississippi River
• Various lakes and ponds visible in the area
• Roadways and trail networks
• Contours and geographical features indicating hills and valleys

Historical context & cartographic details

• Historical 1:24,000 topographical map produced by the US Geological Survey.
• Dated 1974, with a 1977 publication imprint.
• Published by the US Geological Survey, known for reliable topographic maps and detailed geographic data for the United States.
• Uses a traditional topographic style with contour lines, color-coded land-use areas, and a clear, legible layout.
• Provides insight into 1970s land use, urban development, and natural landscape changes 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.