{"product_id":"map-of-lake-sammamish-washington-by-usgs-1983-bellevue-newcastle-houghton","title":"Map of Lake Sammamish, Washington by USGS, 1983 – Bellevue, Newcastle \u0026 Houghton","description":"\u003cp\u003ePublished in 1983 from survey data gathered that same year, the US Geological Survey’s “Bellevue South” captures a transformative moment on the eastern shore of Lake Washington’s urbanizing hinterland. At 1:25,000 scale, the map offers a finely observed topographical portrait of Bellevue, Newcastle, Houghton, and the Lake Sammamish corridor just as the Eastside was accelerating from suburban landscape into one of the Pacific Northwest’s most dynamic metropolitan regions. Its crisp USGS symbology—blue lakes and streams, brown contour lines, green wooded areas, and clearly marked roads—creates a richly legible view of terrain, settlement, and infrastructure. The result is both a practical geographic document and a fascinating historical record of place at the dawn of the modern tech-era Eastside.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLake Sammamish dominates the eastern portion of the map, its elongated blue form anchoring the surrounding hills, neighborhoods, parks, and wooded margins. The shoreline reveals a landscape still shaped by a mixture of recreation, residence, and open space, with parks and green belts punctuating the lakefront. Around the water, contour lines trace the subtle but important rises and valleys that define this part of King County, showing how settlement threaded itself between ridges, slopes, and lowlands. These topographic details are especially evocative in the Newcastle and Bellevue highlands, where elevation changes create a complex terrain of wooded ravines, residential streets, and viewpoints overlooking both Lake Sammamish and the broader metropolitan basin.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe map is particularly compelling for its depiction of Bellevue before its full emergence as a dense commercial center. In the early 1980s, Bellevue was already an important suburban city, yet its street pattern and land-use footprint still retained traces of a more spacious, wooded, and residential character. Houghton appears to the northwestern side of the sheet, tying the map into the broader Eastside geography between Bellevue and Kirkland, while Newcastle—long associated with coal mining and forested uplands—occupies the southern landscape. Together, these names evoke layers of regional history: indigenous homelands, logging and mining frontiers, postwar suburbs, and the later rise of high-technology corridors that would dramatically reshape the area.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eInfrastructure is one of the map’s most historically revealing elements. Interstate 90 cuts across the scene as a major east–west artery, linking Seattle, Mercer Island, Bellevue, and the communities beyond Lake Sammamish. Local roads, neighborhood grids, and curving suburban streets are rendered with the practical precision characteristic of USGS cartography, making visible the transportation framework that guided subsequent growth. The map records a stage before later development filled in many wooded tracts and expanded commercial districts, allowing today’s viewer to compare a rapidly evolving landscape with its earlier configuration. For collectors interested in urban change, “Bellevue South” offers an unusually clear snapshot of how mobility, terrain, and settlement converged in the Eastside’s modern expansion.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAs a USGS topographical map, “Bellevue South” belongs to a cartographic tradition devoted to accuracy, clarity, and the systematic description of the American landscape. Its vibrant yet disciplined palette is more than decorative: blue water, green vegetation, brown relief, and black and red cultural features together form a visual language instantly recognizable to hikers, planners, engineers, and historians. The contouring is especially valuable, revealing the physical structure beneath modern development—the hills around Newcastle, the lake basin of Sammamish, and the valleys that shaped road alignments and neighborhood growth. Elegant in its restraint and rich in geographic information, this map preserves the Eastside at a pivotal moment between wooded suburbia and metropolitan transformation.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eCities, towns and places on this map\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eLake:\u003c\/strong\u003e Lake Sammamish\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eCities and communities:\u003c\/strong\u003e Bellevue, Newcastle, Houghton\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNeighborhoods:\u003c\/strong\u003e Residential neighborhoods within Bellevue and Houghton, including Newcastle and parts of the Seattle-area suburbs\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eRoads:\u003c\/strong\u003e Interstate 90 and several local roads\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eParks:\u003c\/strong\u003e Parks along the shore of Lake Sammamish\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eForests and wooded areas:\u003c\/strong\u003e Tree-covered areas around the edges of urban development\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eGeographic features:\u003c\/strong\u003e Hills, valleys, and other natural landmarks surrounding Lake Sammamish\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eHistorical context \u0026amp; cartographic details\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eMap name:\u003c\/strong\u003e Bellevue South\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/strong\u003e US Geological Survey (USGS)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDate:\u003c\/strong\u003e Produced using survey data from 1983 and published in 1983\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eScale:\u003c\/strong\u003e 1:25,000 topographical map\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eHistorical context:\u003c\/strong\u003e Shows the geographical and infrastructural layout of Bellevue, Newcastle, Lake Sammamish, and surrounding areas during the early 1980s\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eHistorical significance:\u003c\/strong\u003e Offers a snapshot of Bellevue and nearby communities before later changes caused by urbanization and land development\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eCartographic style:\u003c\/strong\u003e Uses a vibrant USGS color palette, with water bodies shown in blue and elevation represented by contour lines in brown and green\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eMap features:\u003c\/strong\u003e Roads, urban areas, wooded areas, and other landscape details are marked with standard topographic symbology\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eTopographic detail:\u003c\/strong\u003e Includes elevation contours showing hills, valleys, and varied terrain around Lake Sammamish\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eLooking for a particular place?\u003c\/strong\u003e Review the detailed images to confirm that the town, landmark or feature you have in mind appears on the map. If you are unsure, \u003ca target=\"”_blank”\" href=\"\/pages\/contact-us\"\u003eask our workshop to check before you order\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eDetailed 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.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis map looks amazing at sizes all the way up to 50in (125cm). If you are looking for a larger map, please \u003ca href=\"\/pages\/contact-us\"\u003eget in touch\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe model in the listing images is holding the 18x24in (45x60cm) version of this map.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhere personalisation is available, you can add a short title or dedication, mark one meaningful place, or request one considered visual detail. \u003ca target=\"”_blank”\" href=\"\/pages\/map-personalisation\"\u003eSee personalised map examples\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eEvery 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.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWith 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 \u003ca target=\"”_blank”\" href=\"\/collections\/all-old-vintage-antique-maps\"\u003erare old and vintage maps\u003c\/a\u003e to discover another place, period or style.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"The Unique Maps Co.","offers":[{"title":"12x16in (30x40cm) \/ Map","offer_id":68128609894791,"sku":null,"price":54.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"12x16in (30x40cm) \/ Framed map","offer_id":68128609927559,"sku":null,"price":144.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"12x16in (30x40cm) \/ Framed canvas map","offer_id":68128609960327,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"A3 (297x420mm) \/ Map","offer_id":68128609993095,"sku":null,"price":54.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"A3 (297x420mm) \/ Framed map","offer_id":68128610025863,"sku":null,"price":144.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"A3 (297x420mm) \/ Framed canvas 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