Titled “Newport,” this 1944 US Geological Survey topographical map presents one of Rhode Island’s most storied coastal landscapes at a scale of 1:31,680. Centered on Newport and Jamestown, it captures the intricate meeting of city, island, harbor, and open Atlantic at a moment when the region still retained much of its mid-century character. Newport Harbor, Narragansett Bay, Sachuest Bay, and the Atlantic Ocean define the composition, while the built fabric of Newport is set against beaches, points, coves, and low coastal elevations. The map is especially evocative as a wartime-era survey, recording the landscape before many later transformations in tourism infrastructure, conservation areas, and transportation links reshaped the appearance and use of Aquidneck and Conanicut Islands.

Produced by the US Geological Survey, the map reflects the agency’s disciplined and elegant topographic language: contour lines trace the modest but meaningful rises of the coastal terrain, while roads, settlements, shorelines, wetlands, and water bodies are rendered with crisp symbolic clarity. The USGS was central to the scientific mapping of the United States, creating maps that served engineers, planners, military authorities, geologists, and the public alike. Here, its practical precision becomes visually compelling, revealing how Newport’s celebrated urban grid relates to surrounding farms, estates, beaches, military reservations, and maritime approaches. The result is not merely a navigational document, but a finely structured portrait of place, balancing the geometry of human settlement with the irregular beauty of Rhode Island’s rocky shore.

Newport itself dominates the eastern side of the map, its dense street pattern surrounded by landmarks that speak to centuries of wealth, faith, defense, and seafaring culture. Bellevue Avenue and Ocean Avenue evoke the Gilded Age city of mansions and oceanfront drives, while St. Mary’s Church recalls one of Newport’s most famous historic congregations. Fort Adams commands the harbor entrance, anchoring a military geography that also includes nearby Goat Island and Rose Island. Castle Hill, Brenton Point, Gooseberry Beach, Easton’s Beach, and Seaside Park mark the city’s dramatic exposure to Narragansett Bay and the Atlantic beyond. The map beautifully situates Newport as both resort and fortress, a city whose elegance was inseparable from its strategic maritime setting.

Across the water, Jamestown occupies Conanicut Island with a quieter, more spacious geography of coves, points, and rural roads. Mackerel Cove, Fort Wetherill, Bissel Point, and Cowesett Point illustrate the island’s indented shoreline and its importance in guarding the approaches to Newport Harbor. The surrounding waters of Narragansett Bay are central to the map’s drama, separating communities while connecting them through ferries, naval routes, and maritime commerce. In 1944, before the later Newport Bridge transformed regional movement, these islands retained a stronger sense of separation and coastal dependence. The map therefore preserves a pre-bridge view of the bay, when water crossings, harbors, and defensive points shaped daily life and strategic planning.

The natural features surrounding Newport and Middletown are rendered with equal attention, from Easton Point and Sachuest Bay to Second Beach, Third Beach, Jones Pond, Horse Neck, and the promontory now associated with Sachuest Point National Wildlife Refuge. These names form a coastal itinerary of dunes, marshes, headlands, and beaches, revealing the environmental richness that later conservation efforts would seek to protect. The map also hints at changing land use, showing the balance between compact urban areas, open coastal tracts, military installations, and recreational shorelines. As a mid-twentieth-century record, it offers an invaluable baseline for understanding subsequent development around Naval Station Newport, the growth of regional tourism, and the evolving stewardship of Rhode Island’s distinctive marine landscape.

Cities, towns and places on this map

• Newport
• Jamestown
• Narragansett Bay
• Atlantic Ocean
• Newport Harbor
• Sachuest Bay
• Brenton Point
• Gooseberry Beach
• Easton Point
• Fort Adams
• Easton’s Beach
• Hammersmith Farm
• Seaside Park
• Third Beach
• Second Beach
• Horse Neck
• Bissel Point
• Sachuest Point National Wildlife Refuge
• Fort Wetherill
• Castle Hill
• Ocean Avenue
• Bellevue Avenue
• Newport Bridge
• Jones Pond
• Cowesett Point
• Tiver River
• Naval Station Newport
• Mackerel Cove
• St. Mary’s Church
• Goat Island
• Rose Island
• Fort Adams State Park
• Middletown

Historical context & cartographic details

• Titled “Newport,” this historical topographical map was produced by the US Geological Survey (USGS).
• Created using survey data from 1944.
• The map is drawn at a scale of 1:31,680.
• It provides a mid-20th-century snapshot of the area before significant post-1944 development.
• The USGS is known for extensive mapping projects used by researchers, government officials, planners, and the public.
• The map uses a classic topographic style, with contour lines to show changes in elevation.
• Its color palette differentiates geographic features such as urban areas, forests, and water bodies.
• It details both urban layout and natural terrain, including elevations, bodies of water, and land-use patterns.
• The map is useful for understanding historical changes in land use, urban development, and environmental management in the region.

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.