Titled “Little Rock,” this United States Geological Survey topographical map presents Arkansas’s capital and its surrounding Pulaski County landscape as surveyed in 1944 and issued with a 1946 imprint. At a scale of 1:31,680, it captures the city at a revealing historical threshold, just as wartime America was giving way to postwar expansion. Little Rock appears not merely as an urban center, but as part of a broader geographical system shaped by river corridors, rail connections, roads, low hills, and adjoining settlements. The map’s careful lettering and systematic USGS design give it both practical clarity and historical elegance, preserving a moment when the modern city was beginning to press outward into its rural margins.

The United States Geological Survey, founded in 1879, became one of the great cartographic institutions of the modern world, producing maps that combined scientific precision with national ambition. Its topographic sheets were essential tools for engineers, planners, geologists, surveyors, and public agencies, translating the American landscape into a legible framework of contours, waterways, transport routes, and settlement patterns. This Little Rock sheet reflects that tradition beautifully. Rather than emphasizing ornament, the map’s authority comes from disciplined observation: the measured spacing of contour lines, the classification of roads, the crisp depiction of railways, and the hierarchy of place names. It is a map designed to be used, yet its accumulated detail now offers a richly textured historical portrait.

Little Rock’s setting is dominated by the Arkansas River, the defining natural feature of the sheet and one of the great waterways of the American interior. The river’s course organizes the geography of the map, separating and connecting Little Rock with North Little Rock and influencing the alignment of roads, railways, and settlement. Nearby, the Little Maumelle River and smaller creeks add further complexity to the terrain, tracing lowlands, drainage channels, and wooded margins. The contours reveal the rolling character of the region, where uplands and valleys subtly shape movement and development. This is not a flat urban plan, but a landscape map in which city, river, and hill country remain inseparably linked.

The urban geography shown here is especially evocative. Little Rock and North Little Rock appear with their road grids, rail lines, crossings, and outlying connections, while smaller communities such as Wrightsville mark the wider inhabited landscape of Pulaski County. Highways and local roads extend outward like arteries, suggesting the growing importance of automobile travel, even as railways still form a prominent part of the transportation network. Grade crossings and route junctions speak to the practical concerns of mid-century mapping, when safe passage, logistics, and land access mattered intensely. In this sense, the map records not just where places were, but how people, goods, and institutions moved between them.

Historically, the 1944 survey date makes this map particularly compelling. It captures Little Rock before many of the transformations that would define the later twentieth century: enlarged suburbs, expanded highways, intensified commercial corridors, and the broader metropolitan sprawl that reshaped Pulaski County after World War II. The map therefore offers a disciplined snapshot of a city poised between regional capital and modern metropolitan center. Its topographic language allows the viewer to see the foundations beneath later growth—the rivers, ridges, valleys, roads, and rail lines that guided expansion. For collectors of Arkansas history, urban development, or American scientific cartography, “Little Rock” is a quietly powerful document of place, transition, and terrain.

Cities, towns and places on this map

• Little Rock
• Pulaski County
• North Little Rock
• Little Maumelle River
• Arkansas River
• Wrightsville
• Landmark sites, including grade crossings and roads
• Major roadways, including highways and local roads
• Railways
• Parks or recreational areas, if marked
• Natural features, including hills and valleys
• Bodies of water, including creeks, lakes, and rivers

Historical context & cartographic details

• Produced by the United States Geological Survey.
• Historical 1:31,680 topographical map showing Little Rock, Arkansas, and surrounding areas.
• Dated 1944 with a 1946 imprint.
• Uses contour lines to depict elevation and terrain.
• Features a systematic layout with clear labels and references for navigation and planning.
• Shows varying elevations typical of the hilly terrain around Little Rock.
• Marks water bodies and vegetation to help illustrate the natural landscape.
• Reflects a period of transition and growth in Little Rock around the end of World War II.
• Documents the area before later urban sprawl and infrastructure development.

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.