Published in 1968 from 1966 survey work, the U.S. Geological Survey’s “Colchester Point” captures a richly detailed portion of the Lake Champlain basin at the practical and revealing scale of 1:24,000. Centered on the great inland waterway between Vermont and New York, the map presents Lake Champlain not merely as a blue expanse, but as a structured landscape of points, bays, islands, channels, roads, settlements, and wooded uplands. Colchester Point itself projects into the lake north of Burlington, marking one of the region’s distinctive shoreline forms. The clean mid-century USGS design—blue water, green wooded areas, brown contour lines, and crisply labeled transportation routes—gives the sheet an elegant clarity while preserving an impressive density of geographic information.

The U.S. Geological Survey was, by the 1960s, the authoritative American institution for systematic topographic mapping, and this quadrangle reflects the agency’s mature cartographic style. Its purpose was practical: to serve engineers, planners, hikers, mariners, scientists, and local authorities with a precise account of terrain and infrastructure. Yet such maps have become historical documents in their own right, recording the organization of a landscape at a particular moment. The careful contouring around Lake Champlain’s shores reveals subtle changes in elevation, while roads, paths, and settlement patterns show how communities such as Colchester and Burlington related to the lake before later waves of development. The result is both a technical instrument and a quiet portrait of northern New England in the 1960s.

Lake Champlain dominates the composition, a vast freshwater corridor with deep ecological, recreational, and historical significance. Long before highways and railways, the lake served as a natural route between the St. Lawrence Valley and the Hudson River system, shaping Indigenous travel, colonial military campaigns, commerce, and settlement. On this map, its geography is articulated through named points, channels, and islands, including South Hero Island, North Hero Island, Valcour Island, the Red Islands, and Ausable Point across the New York shore. These features evoke the lake’s complexity: part borderland, part transportation route, part habitat. The blue of the water contrasts strongly with wooded green areas, emphasizing the interdependence of shoreline communities, wetlands, uplands, and open lake.

The surrounding terrain is rendered with the understated precision characteristic of USGS topographic sheets. Contour lines trace both the flatter lowlands near the lakeshore and the hillier ground farther inland, allowing the viewer to read drainage, slope, and settlement logic at a glance. The Burlington and Colchester areas appear as important Vermont communities linked by roads and local routes, while places such as Chesterfield and Peru on the New York side situate the sheet within the broader Champlain Valley. Parks, nature reserves, wooded tracts, and waterways suggest a landscape where human use and natural systems remain closely intertwined. Even modest streams and channels are important here, feeding into the larger hydrological world of Lake Champlain.

As a snapshot of the region in the mid-1960s, “Colchester Point” offers insight into a landscape poised between rural character, lakeside recreation, and expanding urban influence. Burlington’s proximity brings civic and commercial energy to the southern portion of the map, while the islands and points of Lake Champlain preserve a more open, maritime rhythm. Roads and paths indicate patterns of access to beaches, farms, parks, and ferry or shoreline points, documenting how residents and visitors moved through the area. Since publication, development, conservation initiatives, shoreline management, and environmental change have altered parts of the basin. This map preserves an earlier configuration with remarkable composure, showing Lake Champlain and its neighboring communities in a moment of measured, topographic clarity.

Cities, towns and places on this map

• Lake Champlain
• Colchester
• Burlington
• Chesterfield
• Peru
• Ausable Point
• South Hero Island
• North Hero Island
• Valcour Island
• Red Islands
• Several parks and nature reserves in the vicinity
• Major waterways and channels connecting to Lake Champlain
• Roads and paths outlined through the map with accompanying labels

Historical context & cartographic details

• Historical 1:24,000 topographical map of Lake Champlain in Vermont and the surrounding area
• Dated 1966, with a 1968 imprint
• Produced by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)
• Features a clearly defined color scheme, with blue for water and green for wooded areas
• Includes contour lines to show elevation changes
• Shows both flat and hilly terrain surrounding Lake Champlain
• Clean, functional layout typical of mid-20th-century USGS topographic maps
• Reflects the geographical configuration of the region in the 1960s
• Records a landscape that may have changed over time due to urbanization and environmental change

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.