Rare Old Map of Morgan City, Louisiana by USGS, 1966: Bayou Teche, Lake Palourde & Bayou Boeuf
Restored in our London workshop from the original 1967 map and printed to museum-grade archival standards. Full description
The Collector’s Offer
Choose two eligible works and receive 20% off both. Choose three and the lowest-priced one is complimentary, a maximum saving of 33%.
Mix and match eligible standard maps and fine-art prints. No code is required; the offer is applied automatically at checkout.
Standard made-to-order configurations are included. Bespoke sizes, personalised designs and commissioned work are excluded.
Need delivery to different addresses? Contact us before ordering.The Collector’s Offer
Choose two eligible works and receive 20% off both. Choose three and the lowest-priced one is complimentary, a maximum saving of 33%.
Mix and match eligible standard maps and fine-art prints. No code is required; the offer is applied automatically at checkout.
Standard made-to-order configurations are included. Bespoke sizes, personalised designs and commissioned work are excluded.
Need delivery to different addresses? Contact us before ordering.
Restored in London • Printed and framed in the UK
Restored from the original 1967 map and printed to museum-grade archival standards. Full description
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If you want to add a gift message, or a finish (jigsaw, aluminium board, etc.) that is not available here, please request it in the "order note" when you check out.
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Titled “Morgan City,” this United States Geological Survey topographic map captures a distinctive corner of southern Louisiana as surveyed in 1966 and...
Continue readingTitled “Morgan City,” this United States Geological Survey topographic map captures a distinctive corner of southern Louisiana as surveyed in 1966 and published with a 1967 imprint. At a precise 1:24,000 scale, it presents Morgan City and its watery surroundings with the clarity and authority characteristic of mid-twentieth-century USGS mapping. The city appears not as an isolated settlement, but as a community defined by bayous, lakes, rail lines, roads, drainage canals, and low-lying terrain. Red urban markings identify developed streets and neighborhoods, while blue waterways and green vegetated areas reveal the environmental matrix in which Morgan City grew. The result is a richly informative portrait of a Gulf Coast town poised between industry, transportation, and the restless hydrology of the Louisiana wetlands.
The United States Geological Survey brought to this map nearly a century of institutional expertise in measuring, classifying, and depicting the American landscape. Founded in 1879, the USGS became the nation’s preeminent authority on topography, geology, water resources, and land use, and its quadrangle maps remain among the most trusted cartographic records of the United States. In “Morgan City,” that disciplined scientific approach is evident in the careful rendering of elevation, drainage, vegetation, infrastructure, and settlement patterns. The design is restrained yet highly expressive: contour and hydrographic details work together to describe a landscape where even slight shifts in elevation matter. For collectors, it is precisely this combination of technical rigor and regional specificity that gives USGS maps their enduring historical appeal.
Morgan City’s geography is inseparable from the waterways that surround and sustain it. Bayou Teche and Bayou Boeuf, two names deeply rooted in Louisiana’s cultural and environmental history, appear alongside Lake Palourde, Flat Lake, Plantation Lake, and a network of unnamed lakes, canals, marshes, and wetlands. These features speak to a place shaped by waterborne movement, fertile lowlands, and the constant negotiation between human settlement and natural flow. The map’s blue tracery reveals not merely scenic geography, but a working hydrological system essential to transportation, fisheries, agriculture, and flood management. In this landscape, water is both pathway and hazard, resource and boundary, lending the map a layered significance for understanding life along Louisiana’s coastal interior.
The urban fabric of Morgan City is shown in relation to railways, roads, residential districts, commercial zones, and surrounding open land, offering a snapshot of the city during a period of postwar change. By the mid-1960s, Morgan City was closely associated with maritime activity, oilfield support, fishing, and regional commerce, industries made possible by its access to navigable waterways and the Gulf Coast economy. The map records the practical infrastructure that connected the city to neighboring areas, while also preserving traces of a less urbanized wetland margin beyond the developed core. Drainage canals and transportation corridors reveal how human engineering had begun to impose order on a soft, shifting terrain, reshaping the possibilities for growth, industry, and habitation.
As a historical document, this 1966 depiction of Morgan City is especially compelling because the region has continued to evolve under pressures of development, subsidence, storm risk, changing waterways, and environmental management. The wetlands, lakes, and canals shown here are more than background scenery; they are clues to flood risk, land use, agricultural patterns, and the long struggle to balance economic ambition with ecological vulnerability. Comparing this mapped landscape with the present invites reflection on the transformations of coastal Louisiana over the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. Elegant in its cartographic economy and rich in local detail, “Morgan City” offers a vivid record of a community defined by water, industry, and the delicate geography of the lower Mississippi delta plain.
Cities, towns and places on this map
- Morgan City, Louisiana
- Bayou Boeuf
- Bayou Teche
- Lake Palourde
- Plantation Lake
- Flat Lake
- Several unnamed lakes and wetlands
- Roads and railways connecting Morgan City to neighboring areas
- Drainage canals throughout the region
- Residential and commercial zones in Morgan City
- Natural reserves and vegetated areas surrounding the waterways
Historical context & cartographic details
- Produced by the United States Geological Survey (USGS)
- Historical 1:24,000 topographical map dated 1966, with a 1967 imprint
- Shows Morgan City and the surrounding area in Louisiana
- Uses color coding to distinguish urban development, water bodies, and vegetation
- Depicts elevation changes, drainage systems, and regional land uses
- Documents the area before later changes in development and environmental conditions
- Useful for understanding historical agriculture, industry, waterways, flood risk, and urban planning in the Morgan City 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.
Titled “Morgan City,” this United States Geological Survey topographic map captures a distinctive corner of southern Louisiana as surveyed in 1966 and published with a 1967 imprint. At a precise 1:24,000 scale, it presents Morgan City and its watery surroundings with the clarity and authority characteristic of mid-twentieth-century USGS mapping. The city appears not as an isolated settlement, but as a community defined by bayous, lakes, rail lines, roads, drainage canals, and low-lying terrain. Red urban markings identify developed streets and neighborhoods, while blue waterways and green vegetated areas reveal the environmental matrix in which Morgan City grew. The result is a richly informative portrait of a Gulf Coast town poised between industry, transportation, and the restless hydrology of the Louisiana wetlands.
The United States Geological Survey brought to this map nearly a century of institutional expertise in measuring, classifying, and depicting the American landscape. Founded in 1879, the USGS became the nation’s preeminent authority on topography, geology, water resources, and land use, and its quadrangle maps remain among the most trusted cartographic records of the United States. In “Morgan City,” that disciplined scientific approach is evident in the careful rendering of elevation, drainage, vegetation, infrastructure, and settlement patterns. The design is restrained yet highly expressive: contour and hydrographic details work together to describe a landscape where even slight shifts in elevation matter. For collectors, it is precisely this combination of technical rigor and regional specificity that gives USGS maps their enduring historical appeal.
Morgan City’s geography is inseparable from the waterways that surround and sustain it. Bayou Teche and Bayou Boeuf, two names deeply rooted in Louisiana’s cultural and environmental history, appear alongside Lake Palourde, Flat Lake, Plantation Lake, and a network of unnamed lakes, canals, marshes, and wetlands. These features speak to a place shaped by waterborne movement, fertile lowlands, and the constant negotiation between human settlement and natural flow. The map’s blue tracery reveals not merely scenic geography, but a working hydrological system essential to transportation, fisheries, agriculture, and flood management. In this landscape, water is both pathway and hazard, resource and boundary, lending the map a layered significance for understanding life along Louisiana’s coastal interior.
The urban fabric of Morgan City is shown in relation to railways, roads, residential districts, commercial zones, and surrounding open land, offering a snapshot of the city during a period of postwar change. By the mid-1960s, Morgan City was closely associated with maritime activity, oilfield support, fishing, and regional commerce, industries made possible by its access to navigable waterways and the Gulf Coast economy. The map records the practical infrastructure that connected the city to neighboring areas, while also preserving traces of a less urbanized wetland margin beyond the developed core. Drainage canals and transportation corridors reveal how human engineering had begun to impose order on a soft, shifting terrain, reshaping the possibilities for growth, industry, and habitation.
As a historical document, this 1966 depiction of Morgan City is especially compelling because the region has continued to evolve under pressures of development, subsidence, storm risk, changing waterways, and environmental management. The wetlands, lakes, and canals shown here are more than background scenery; they are clues to flood risk, land use, agricultural patterns, and the long struggle to balance economic ambition with ecological vulnerability. Comparing this mapped landscape with the present invites reflection on the transformations of coastal Louisiana over the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. Elegant in its cartographic economy and rich in local detail, “Morgan City” offers a vivid record of a community defined by water, industry, and the delicate geography of the lower Mississippi delta plain.
Cities, towns and places on this map
- Morgan City, Louisiana
- Bayou Boeuf
- Bayou Teche
- Lake Palourde
- Plantation Lake
- Flat Lake
- Several unnamed lakes and wetlands
- Roads and railways connecting Morgan City to neighboring areas
- Drainage canals throughout the region
- Residential and commercial zones in Morgan City
- Natural reserves and vegetated areas surrounding the waterways
Historical context & cartographic details
- Produced by the United States Geological Survey (USGS)
- Historical 1:24,000 topographical map dated 1966, with a 1967 imprint
- Shows Morgan City and the surrounding area in Louisiana
- Uses color coding to distinguish urban development, water bodies, and vegetation
- Depicts elevation changes, drainage systems, and regional land uses
- Documents the area before later changes in development and environmental conditions
- Useful for understanding historical agriculture, industry, waterways, flood risk, and urban planning in the Morgan City 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.
Many of our maps and art prints are chosen as thoughtful gifts for homes, offices, studies and meaningful places.
Choose a framed option for the easiest ready-to-hang gift, or choose an unframed print if the recipient may prefer to select their own frame.
We make orders locally in 23 countries around the world, so gifts can often be produced close to the recipient. This helps them arrive faster, travel more safely, and avoid customs or import duty surprises.
- We can deliver directly to the recipient
- Framed pieces arrive ready to hang
- Unframed prints are carefully packed in a strong protective tube
- Almost every order is made locally, for faster, safer gifting
- 90-day returns give the recipient time to decide
If you are not sure what to choose, please contact us. We can help you pick the right map, size, finish or delivery option.
Most orders are made locally and delivered in around 2–3 working days, depending on the product, size and destination.
We print and frame maps and artwork in 23 countries around the world, so your order is usually made close to you or your recipient. That means faster delivery, less time in transit, and no customs or import duty surprises.
Personalised and customised pieces usually take an extra 1–2 working days, because we prepare your design and send it to you for approval before printing.
Very large framed orders can take a little longer, as they need extra care in production and delivery.
Every order is carefully packaged: unframed prints are sent in a strong protective tube, while framed pieces are securely packed with protective materials around the frame.
If you need your order by a particular date, please contact us before ordering. We’ll check the best production route and delivery option for your location.
Express delivery is available at checkout for most countries. Next-day delivery is available in the UK, US, Singapore and the UAE.
Your order is covered by our 90-day returns policy and 10-year guarantee.
Our standard frame is a gallery-style black ash hardwood frame, with a simple, modern look. It is approximately 20mm (0.8in) wide. You can also view some lovely customer photos of framed maps and art.
We use super-clear acrylic glazing, also known as Perspex or Acrylite, instead of traditional glass. It is lighter, safer, and has lower reflectivity, giving the artwork a clearer, cleaner appearance.
Six standard frame colours are available at no extra cost: black, dark brown, dark grey, oak, white, and antique gold. Custom framing and mounting/matting is also available for customers looking for something more specific.
Most maps, art prints, and illustrations are also available as a framed canvas. We use matte cotton canvas, stretch it over a sustainably sourced wooden box frame, and then float the piece within a wooden outer frame. The finished result is beautifully presented, with no glazing between you and the artwork.
All frames are supplied ready to hang, with either string or brackets fitted to the back. Very large frames will include heavy-duty hanging plates and/or a mounting baton. If you have any questions, please get in touch.
We can also supply old maps and artwork on canvas, foam board, cotton rag, and other materials.
If you would prefer to frame your map or artwork yourself, please read our size guide before ordering.
Every Unique Maps piece begins with an authentic cartographic source or an original design from our London studio.
For our historic maps, we source rare originals from libraries, archives, auction houses and private collections around the world. We carefully restore each map for print—repairing age-related damage, balancing colour and improving clarity while preserving its original detail, texture and character.
Once restored, the map is prepared for your chosen size and finish. Your piece is then printed and, where selected, framed close to its delivery destination.
Our map prints use acid-free 200gsm archival matte paper and fade-resistant pigment inks, creating a rich, non-glossy finish designed to last. Framed maps use crystal-clear optical acrylic and arrive ready to hang.
Canvas, cotton-rag and other specialist presentations are also available. Learn more about our materials and finishes.
Personalising your map
You can add a short title or dedication, mark one meaningful place, or request one considered visual detail. For personalised designs, we send a proof before printing and you can request changes before approval.
For more complex bespoke commissions, contact our design team.
Original or Aged
Choose Original for true-to-source colour, or Aged for a warmer, richer antique character created with our specialist ageing process. See examples of our Aged maps.
We’ve been restoring and producing maps and art prints since 1984, and we stand behind every piece.
Every order is covered by our 10-year guarantee and damage-free delivery guarantee. If your piece arrives damaged, we’ll replace or remake it free of charge. If anything else isn’t right, contact our workshop team and we’ll put it right promptly.
See our returns and refund policy for full details.
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