Published in 1968 from a 1955 edition, the U.S. Geological Survey’s “Lafayette” captures the heart of south-central Louisiana at a revealing mid-century moment. Drawn at the practical and elegant 1:62,500 scale, the map presents Lafayette not merely as a city, but as the organizing center of a richly watered Acadian landscape. Its red road network, carefully plotted waterways, and measured contour lines reflect the USGS tradition of exacting field-based cartography. The result is a portrait of a region poised between rural continuity and modern expansion, where parish roads, rail corridors, drainage canals, and urban blocks together chart the evolving geography of Cajun country.

Lafayette appears prominently at the center of the sheet, its streets and built-up areas distinguished from the surrounding fields, bayous, and low relief terrain. The map records a city growing outward from its historic core, with major thoroughfares radiating toward nearby communities and agricultural districts. Girard Park and the campus area now associated with the University of Louisiana at Lafayette lend cultural and civic definition to the cityscape, while the Lafayette Regional Airport anchors the southeastern side of town as a symbol of postwar mobility. The surrounding road pattern, picked out in red, conveys the increasing importance of automobile travel in shaping Lafayette’s suburbs and commercial corridors.

Water gives this map much of its character. The Vermilion River winds through the Lafayette area, its sinuous course contrasting with the straighter geometry of roads, property lines, and drainage works. To the east, the storied Bayou Teche region evokes one of Louisiana’s most historically resonant corridors, associated with Indigenous pathways, French and Spanish colonial settlement, plantation agriculture, and Acadian communities. Canals, bayous, and drainage features are carefully delineated, underscoring the practical importance of water management in a low-lying Gulf Coast environment. Even where the terrain appears gentle, the map’s hydrography reveals a landscape governed by subtle gradients, seasonal moisture, and engineered control.

The wider sheet situates Lafayette within a network of distinctive south Louisiana towns and settlements. Abbeville lies to the southwest, connecting the map to Vermilion Parish and the coastal prairie country beyond, while Breaux Bridge to the northeast points toward the Teche country and the crawfish-rich wetlands for which the region became famous. Between these places, the map suggests a working landscape of farms, pastures, waterways, and crossroads communities. Areas now known for neighborhoods such as River Ranch appear within the broader suburban fringe, offering a glimpse of land before later residential and commercial transformation. This is Lafayette at a threshold, still deeply rural around the edges yet unmistakably modernizing.

As a USGS topographical map, “Lafayette” belongs to one of America’s great cartographic enterprises: the systematic mapping of the nation’s terrain for science, planning, defense, engineering, and public use. Its visual language is disciplined and authoritative—contour lines describing modest elevation changes, colored urban areas marking settlement, and precisely drawn highways clarifying movement across the parish landscape. In a region without dramatic mountains, the subtlety of the topography becomes the point: drainage, levees, bayous, and road embankments matter intensely. The map is therefore both beautiful and utilitarian, a mid-century document of Lafayette’s geography, infrastructure, and cultural landscape at a time when Louisiana’s Acadian heartland was entering a new era of growth.

Cities, towns and places on this map

• Lafayette
• Vermilion River
• Bayou Teche
• Girard Park
• Lafayette Regional Airport
• University of Louisiana at Lafayette
• Abbeville, southwest of Lafayette
• Breaux Bridge, northeast of Lafayette
• River Ranch, notable neighborhood
• Roads and highways, detailed in red
• Canals and drainage features
• Parks and recreational areas

Historical context & cartographic details

• Produced by the U.S. Geological Survey as a historical 1:62,500 topographical map of Lafayette, Louisiana and the surrounding area.
• Dated 1955, with a 1968 imprint.
• Published by the U.S. Geological Survey, known for comprehensive mapping across the United States.
• Uses standard topographical representation, including contour lines to show elevation changes.
• Urban areas are marked in distinct color.
• Thoroughfares are delineated with red lines.
• Terrain is shown through contour lines and shading, reflecting the relatively subtle topography of the Lafayette region.
• Reflects mid-20th-century development and change in and around Lafayette, including agricultural areas, water bodies, and emerging urban landscapes.

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.