Published in 1991 using original survey data collected in 1949, the US Geological Survey’s “Beaufort” presents a finely resolved portrait of one of North Carolina’s most storied coastal landscapes. At 1:24,000 scale, it captures Beaufort and Morehead City at a moment when working waterfronts, barrier islands, marshlands, and expanding roads were shaping the modern Crystal Coast. The map’s title is understated, but the geography it contains is rich: Beaufort Inlet opening toward the Atlantic Ocean, Bogue Sound stretching westward, and the low, shifting margins of Core Sound and Shackleford Banks. It is both a practical topographic document and a historical snapshot of coastal settlement, navigation, and environmental change.

The mapmaker, the US Geological Survey, brought to this sheet the disciplined clarity that made its topographic maps indispensable to planners, engineers, navigators, and historians. Founded to systematically describe the American landscape, the USGS developed a cartographic language of contour lines, symbols, road classifications, and hydrological detail that remains instantly recognizable. Here, that language is especially effective in a low-lying coastal region where subtle changes in elevation matter enormously. Marsh, beach, channel, and developed ground are differentiated with quiet precision, while the vivid blue of the surrounding waters gives the sheet a visual rhythm appropriate to a place defined by tides, sounds, inlets, and ocean currents.

Beaufort itself appears as a historic maritime town at the edge of Gallants Channel and Beaufort Inlet, its position reflecting centuries of commerce, fishing, and coastal travel. Nearby Morehead City, connected by U.S. Route 70, signals the region’s growing twentieth-century infrastructure and its role as a commercial and recreational hub. Radio Island and Pivers Island occupy strategic points between the two communities, emphasizing the importance of bridges, channels, and sheltered waters. The presence of highways, town grids, and waterfront facilities makes the map valuable for understanding how these communities developed around their harbors, while still remaining closely bound to the natural geography of marshes, creeks, and sounds.

Beyond the towns, the map opens into a broader coastal world of barrier islands and protected waterways. Shackleford Banks lies as a long, narrow guard between the Atlantic Ocean and the calmer interior waters, while Fort Macon State Park marks a landscape where military history, coastal defense, and recreation converge. Bogue Sound and Onslow Bay frame the region with contrasting maritime environments: one sheltered and intricate, the other open and oceanic. Harkers Island, Cedar Island, and the edges of Core Sound evoke the wider Down East coastal culture, where fishing communities, ferry routes, tidal flats, and wind-shaped shorelines have long defined daily life.

As a historical record, “Beaufort” is especially compelling because it preserves the area before later decades of intensified coastal development, tourism, marina construction, and shoreline modification. Its careful depiction of tidal marshes, beaches, channels, roads, and settlement patterns allows the viewer to trace how Beaufort and Morehead City balanced growth with the demands of a delicate coastal environment. The map rewards close study: every inlet, causeway, island, and contour suggests the interplay of human ambition and natural process. Elegant in its restraint and authoritative in its detail, it offers a distinguished view of North Carolina’s coast at a pivotal mid-century moment.

Cities, towns and places on this map

• Beaufort
• Morehead City
• Bogue Sound
• Onslow Bay
• Atlantic Ocean
• Radio Island
• Shackleford Banks
• Core Sound
• Cedar Island
• Harkers Island
• Fort Macon State Park
• Gallants Channel
• Pivers Island
• Town of Newport
• U.S. Route 70
• Beaufort Inlet
• Various tidal and marsh areas
• Beaches

Historical context & cartographic details

• Historical 1:24,000 topographical map of coastal North Carolina.
• Original data collected in 1949; published with a 1991 imprint.
• Produced by the US Geological Survey, known for reliable scientific mapping of the United States landscape.
• Features detailed coastline and waterway representation, with urban, rural, and natural elements shown in a clear USGS color palette.
• Uses distinctive vibrant blue coloring for water bodies.
• Shows elevation changes and landforms, including marshes, beaches, and areas of urban development.
• Serves as a record of geographical change and coastal town development since the 1940s.
• Includes navigable waterways, landmarks, and infrastructure useful for navigation and regional planning.

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.