Published in 1978 from mapping created in 1968, the US Geological Survey’s “Amana” presents the Amana Colonies and their surrounding Iowa landscape at the intimate 1:24,000 scale. The title itself is evocative: Amana, a name associated not merely with a place, but with one of America’s most distinctive communal settlements. Here, the measured precision of federal topographic cartography meets a landscape shaped by agriculture, faith, migration, and Midwestern practicality. Roads, watercourses, fields, and settlement patterns are recorded with the quiet authority of the USGS, offering a view of the region at a moment when the historic colonies had already transitioned from communal life into a modern economy while retaining their unmistakable cultural identity.

The US Geological Survey brought to this map the disciplined visual language that made its quadrangles indispensable to engineers, planners, historians, hikers, and collectors. Founded in 1879, the USGS became the foremost cartographic interpreter of the American terrain, translating hills, streams, roads, towns, and human improvements into a consistent national mapping system. In “Amana,” that tradition is evident in the clarity of its contours, the careful hierarchy of roads and trails, and the subtle coding of water, woodland, and developed land. Rather than dramatizing the landscape, the map reveals it methodically, allowing the viewer to read both the natural form of the country and the human decisions layered upon it over generations.

Topographically, the map is especially rewarding for the way it renders the gentle but meaningful relief of eastern Iowa. Contour lines trace the rise and fall of valleys, low ridges, and drainage corridors, giving structure to a region that might otherwise seem visually understated. The Iowa River system and nearby water bodies, including references to Lake Macbride and Minnewashta Lake, help situate the Amana country within a broader hydrological setting. Fields, roads, and settlement clusters appear in relation to these natural features, showing how transportation, farming, and community life adapted to the terrain. The result is a richly legible portrait of place: not mountainous, but deeply patterned by water, elevation, and use.

The Amana Colonies occupy a singular place in American cultural history. Established by German-speaking religious settlers associated with the Community of True Inspiration, the colonies developed in the nineteenth century as a communal society organized around shared labor, faith, craft, and agriculture. Villages such as Amana became known for their orderly planning, cooperative economy, and enduring traditions of foodways, architecture, and handcraft. Although the communal system formally ended with the “Great Change” of 1932, the landscape retained the imprint of that experiment. This map, made in 1968, captures the colonies after that transformation, when heritage, tourism, farming, and local industry coexisted across a historic settlement pattern still visible in roads, village forms, and cultivated land.

Beyond Amana itself, the map situates the colonies within a wider regional network that includes Oxford, Coralville, Florence, Monroe, Farley, and the roads and trails connecting rural communities across Iowa County and neighboring areas. These names evoke the layered geography of the American Midwest: county roads, farmsteads, river crossings, small towns, and lakeside recreation all held together by a practical landscape of movement and production. For collectors, the appeal lies not only in the cartographic precision but in the historical atmosphere of the map. It records a place where utopian settlement, federal science, agricultural land use, and late twentieth-century regional development meet in one finely observed topographic document.

Cities, towns and places on this map

• Amana Colonies
• Oxford
• Coralville
• Florence
• Monroe
• Farley
• Lake Macbride
• Minnewashta Lake
• Iowa River
• Various roads and trails surrounding the Amana Colonies

Historical context & cartographic details

• Produced by the US Geological Survey as a historical 1:24,000 topographical map of the Amana Colonies and surrounding area in Iowa.
• Created in 1968 and published with a 1978 imprint.
• Shows the Amana Colonies, a group of settlements known for their communal lifestyle and heritage.
• Uses standard USGS topographical styling, including contour lines, elevation coloring, relief features, and water body delineation.
• Includes detailed elevation data showing terrain changes, valleys, and water bodies.
• Highlights a landscape associated with the German-settled Amana Colonies and their cultural history.
• Provides insight into historic settlement patterns and the surrounding landscape as recorded in the late 20th century.

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.