Published in 1967 from 1966 mapping, the US Geological Survey’s “Jamestown” presents a precise mid-century portrait of Jamestown, North Dakota, and its surrounding prairie landscape. Drawn at the detailed 1:24,000 scale, the map records the city at a moment when agricultural patterns, transportation corridors, and water-management infrastructure were shaping the region’s modern identity. Jamestown appears as the principal urban center, set within the gridded order of the Northern Plains, where roads, railways, section lines, and water features are carefully distinguished. The map’s title is spare and direct, characteristic of USGS quadrangles, yet the contents offer a richly layered view of place: a working landscape of farms, waterways, civic development, and engineered systems.

The US Geological Survey brought to this map the disciplined visual language that made its twentieth-century quadrangles indispensable to planners, surveyors, engineers, and historians. Contour lines trace the subtle relief of a landscape often perceived as flat, revealing instead a terrain of gentle rises, drainage courses, and shallow variations in elevation. Color differentiates built areas, vegetation, hydrography, and transportation networks, while the orderly grid supports exact navigation through township-and-range land divisions. This is cartography designed for utility, but it also has an understated elegance: every road, creek, railway, reservoir edge, and contour is part of a larger composition, translating the prairie into a meticulous graphic record.

Jamestown itself occupies a historically resonant position in North Dakota’s story, closely tied to settlement, rail development, farming, and westward expansion. The city’s placement on the map reflects its role as a regional hub, with roads and railways converging through and around the urban area. Nearby Buchanan and Spiritwood extend the picture outward, showing the smaller communities and rural connections that supported the agricultural economy of Stutsman County. The sectional grid lines are especially evocative, recalling the federal land survey system that organized settlement across much of the American interior. In this way, the map is not merely a topographic document; it is a visual expression of how land was measured, divided, inhabited, and used.

Water is a defining presence on the “Jamestown” quadrangle, particularly through Pipestem Creek and the Jamestown Reservoir. These features introduce movement and variation into the prairie setting, their courses and shorelines standing in contrast to the rectilinear geometry of roads and land divisions. Marked water-supply systems add another layer of significance, suggesting the importance of hydrology and infrastructure in sustaining both urban life and agriculture. The reservoir and associated waterways also point to the broader mid-century emphasis on flood control, water storage, and resource management across the Plains. Seen together, the creeks, lakes, and engineered systems reveal a landscape shaped not only by nature, but by civic planning and environmental adaptation.

As a historical record, this map captures Jamestown and its environs before later decades of expansion, highway improvement, and shifting land use altered the region. Parks, minor roads, rail lines, rural sections, and scattered water features preserve the texture of everyday geography in the 1960s. Its topographic character—mostly flat to rolling, with subtle contours rather than dramatic relief—speaks to the quiet complexity of the North Dakota prairie. For collectors, historians, or anyone connected to Jamestown, the map offers a beautifully exacting glimpse of place at a particular moment in time. It combines scientific accuracy with historical atmosphere, making visible the relationship between town, countryside, water, and transportation in the heart of the Northern Plains.

Cities, towns and places on this map

• Jamestown, ND
• Buchanan, ND
• Spiritwood, ND
• Pipestem Creek
• Jamestown Reservoir
• Water supply systems
• Railways
• Roads
• Sectional grid lines indicating land divisions
• Parks
• Lakes and water features

Historical context & cartographic details

• Produced by the US Geological Survey as a historical 1:24,000 topographical map of Jamestown, North Dakota and the surrounding area.
• Created in 1966 and published with a 1967 imprint.
• The US Geological Survey is known for accurate and detailed mapping of the geography and natural resources of the United States.
• Features standard USGS topographic styling, including contour lines to show elevation.
• Uses distinct colors for populated and unpopulated areas.
• Includes a clear grid system for navigation.
• Represents a mostly flat to rolling landscape typical of the region.
• Captures mid-20th-century land use, infrastructure development, and agricultural patterns around Jamestown.
• Provides a historical reference point for comparing later urban development 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.