Published in 1983 from survey data gathered that same year, the U.S. Geological Survey’s “Nacogdoches South” presents a precise and richly detailed portrait of one of East Texas’s most historic communities. At the 1:24,000 scale, the map brings Nacogdoches into intimate focus, balancing the gridded order of streets, highways, and developed districts with the surrounding folds of hills, waterways, and wooded land. The city’s southern reaches, its approaches, and its connections to the wider region are rendered with the quiet authority characteristic of USGS topographic mapping. This is Nacogdoches at a particular modern moment: a university town, a transportation node, and a settlement still visibly shaped by the Piney Woods landscape around it.

Nacogdoches occupies a singular place in Texas history, often celebrated as one of the oldest towns in the state and associated with Spanish missions, early trade routes, and the layered sovereignties of the colonial and frontier eras. By 1983, the city shown here had become a complex modern community, with residential neighborhoods, commercial corridors, and institutional spaces expanding across a terrain still marked by creeks, wooded tracts, and subtle elevation changes. Stephen F. Austin State University gives the map an added historical and cultural dimension, anchoring the town’s educational identity. Highways and local roads radiate through the sheet, suggesting not only movement and access, but the continuing evolution of Nacogdoches from historic settlement to regional center.

The cartographic style is classic late twentieth-century USGS topography: elegant, legible, and data-rich. Contour lines trace the rise and fall of the land with understated precision, revealing the rolling character of the Piney Woods rather than leaving the landscape as a flat abstraction. Water bodies, streams, and drainage patterns create a natural framework around the built environment, while differentiated colors distinguish urban development, vegetation, roads, and hydrological features. Shaded relief and contour intervals together give the map a sculptural quality, allowing the viewer to read the relationship between settlement and terrain. The result is both scientific and atmospheric, a measured document that nevertheless conveys the texture of East Texas.

Transportation features play a prominent role in the composition, especially U.S. Highway 59 and State Highway 21, two corridors that connect Nacogdoches to the broader geography of eastern Texas. U.S. 59, running toward Lufkin to the south, situates the city within a larger regional network of commerce, travel, and settlement. Smaller roads and trails spread outward into rural and semi-rural areas, revealing patterns of access to homes, farms, forestland, and recreational spaces. These routes are more than lines of movement; they are evidence of development patterns, land use, and daily life in 1983. The map captures a moment when modern infrastructure and older landscape forms still sat visibly side by side.

Beyond the city, the map’s natural setting is central to its appeal. Lake Nacogdoches and associated streams, wooded areas, valleys, and hills place the urban landscape within the broader Piney Woods region, a distinct ecological zone of East Texas known for its forests, humid climate, and gently rolling terrain. Parks and recreational areas appear as part of this landscape of water, timber, and settlement, suggesting the importance of outdoor spaces to local life. The varied topography, with its contours of hills and drainage channels, gives the sheet a sense of depth and regional identity. As a historical document, “Nacogdoches South” preserves the city’s 1983 footprint, offering a compelling view of how land, infrastructure, and community converged at that time.

Cities, towns and places on this map

• Nacogdoches
• Lake Nacogdoches
• Lufkin, adjacent area to the south
• U.S. Highway 59
• State Highway 21
• Numerous smaller roads and trails
• Piney Woods region
• Stephen F. Austin State University
• Various parks and recreational areas
• Contours of hills and valleys
• Water bodies, including lakes and streams
• Forested areas and vegetation outlines
• Residential and commercial districts of Nacogdoches
• Potential industrial areas

Historical context & cartographic details

• Created and published by the U.S. Geological Survey, or USGS
• Produced in 1983 with a 1983 imprint
• Historical topographical map based on survey data from the year of publication
• Shows Nacogdoches, Texas, at a scale of 1:24,000
• Features a classic USGS topographical design with contour lines indicating elevation changes
• Uses shaded relief for visual depth
• Includes clear color contrast between urban areas and natural landscapes
• Illustrates varied terrain with hills, water features, and notable elevation changes
• Represents a snapshot of the region in 1983, capturing land use and development patterns that may have changed over time

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.