Rare Old Map of Bishop, California by USGS, 1951 – Owens Valley, Sierra Nevada & Mount Tom
My maps are rare, museum-grade, restored old maps sourced from libraries, auction houses and private collections across the globe. Full description
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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 USA
My maps are rare, museum-grade, restored old maps sourced from libraries, auction houses and private collections across the globe. 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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Published in 1951, the United States Geological Survey’s “Bishop Quadrangle” presents one of California’s most dramatic geographical thresholds: the meeting of the...
Continue readingPublished in 1951, the United States Geological Survey’s “Bishop Quadrangle” presents one of California’s most dramatic geographical thresholds: the meeting of the Owens Valley, the Sierra Nevada, and the White Mountains. At a scale of 1:62,500, the map captures Bishop not merely as a town, but as a strategic hinge between desert basin and alpine country. Its contours trace an environment of striking vertical contrast, from the settled floor of the valley to the rising forms of Mount Tom, Brown Mountain, and Buttermilk Mountain. The title itself evokes the USGS quadrangle tradition, a disciplined cartographic system that divided the American landscape into measurable, navigable units while preserving the distinctive character of each place.
The USGS, founded in 1879, became the authoritative interpreter of American terrain, producing maps that served scientists, engineers, land managers, travelers, and local communities alike. This Bishop sheet belongs to that great national project of observation and order, translating rugged country into a precise language of contours, drainage lines, roads, and place names. Its design is clean and practical, yet elegant in the way good topography often is: elevation is rendered through carefully spaced contour lines, with hachures and subtle relief conventions giving form to ridges, canyons, and alluvial fans. The result is a map that feels both technical and deeply evocative, revealing the underlying structure of the Eastern Sierra landscape.
Bishop Creek is one of the defining features of the map, descending from the Sierra Nevada toward the Owens Valley and shaping the settlement patterns around Bishop. The South Fork, McGee Creek, Hot Creek, and the Lower Owens River appear as part of a broader hydrological network that has long determined the region’s agriculture, habitation, and travel. The map also situates places such as Fish Springs and Laws within the valley’s working geography, where water, roads, and rail-era settlement histories intersect. In this dry country, each creek, spring, and drainage carries special significance, and the USGS treatment makes those delicate threads visible against the commanding mass of surrounding mountains.
The surrounding high country gives the Bishop Quadrangle much of its drama. Mount Tom rises west of the valley, one of the great landmarks of the Eastern Sierra, while Buttermilk Mountain and Brown Mountain mark terrain beloved by climbers, hikers, and explorers. Farther across the mapped region, names such as Coyote Flat, Convict Lake, Lake Crowley, Watterson Lake, Mono Basin, and Mono Lake evoke a landscape of volcanic plateaus, alpine basins, glacially carved valleys, and desert water bodies. The juxtaposition is extraordinary: sagebrush flats, steep granite escarpments, cold streams, high lakes, and arid basins all coexist within a relatively compact cartographic frame.
Historically, this 1951 map records Bishop at an important moment in its transformation. Long shaped by Indigenous presence, ranching, water development, and transportation routes through the Owens Valley, the town was becoming increasingly associated with outdoor recreation and access to the Eastern Sierra. Roads, settlements, and named landmarks reflect a mid-century landscape in which tourism, mountaineering, fishing, and regional travel were gaining prominence alongside older patterns of agriculture and resource use. The map’s clarity made it useful for navigation, but today it also offers a richly layered portrait of human interaction with a demanding environment. It captures Bishop as gateway, crossroads, and base camp for one of California’s most compelling mountain regions.
Cities, towns and places on this map
- Bishop, California
- Owens Valley
- Sierra Nevada mountains
- Bishop Creek
- Fish Springs
- South Fork
- Mono Basin
- Mount Tom
- Brown Mountain
- Buttermilk Mountain
- White Mountains
- Hot Creek
- Laws
- Independence
- Watterson Lake
- Lower Owens River
- McGee Creek
- Coyote Flat
- Convict Lake
- Lake Crowley
- Mono Lake
Historical context & cartographic details
- Published by the United States Geological Survey (USGS).
- Created in 1951.
- Historical 1:62,500 topographical map of the Bishop, California region.
- The USGS has played a major role in surveying and mapping U.S. land since its establishment in 1879.
- Uses contour lines to show elevation changes.
- Includes hachures and shading techniques to convey terrain relief.
- Cartographic elements are neatly arranged for clarity and navigational usability.
- Shows varied Eastern Sierra terrain, including mountains, valleys, and rivers.
- Reflects mid-20th-century infrastructure and land-use changes connected to tourism and outdoor recreation.
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.
Published in 1951, the United States Geological Survey’s “Bishop Quadrangle” presents one of California’s most dramatic geographical thresholds: the meeting of the Owens Valley, the Sierra Nevada, and the White Mountains. At a scale of 1:62,500, the map captures Bishop not merely as a town, but as a strategic hinge between desert basin and alpine country. Its contours trace an environment of striking vertical contrast, from the settled floor of the valley to the rising forms of Mount Tom, Brown Mountain, and Buttermilk Mountain. The title itself evokes the USGS quadrangle tradition, a disciplined cartographic system that divided the American landscape into measurable, navigable units while preserving the distinctive character of each place.
The USGS, founded in 1879, became the authoritative interpreter of American terrain, producing maps that served scientists, engineers, land managers, travelers, and local communities alike. This Bishop sheet belongs to that great national project of observation and order, translating rugged country into a precise language of contours, drainage lines, roads, and place names. Its design is clean and practical, yet elegant in the way good topography often is: elevation is rendered through carefully spaced contour lines, with hachures and subtle relief conventions giving form to ridges, canyons, and alluvial fans. The result is a map that feels both technical and deeply evocative, revealing the underlying structure of the Eastern Sierra landscape.
Bishop Creek is one of the defining features of the map, descending from the Sierra Nevada toward the Owens Valley and shaping the settlement patterns around Bishop. The South Fork, McGee Creek, Hot Creek, and the Lower Owens River appear as part of a broader hydrological network that has long determined the region’s agriculture, habitation, and travel. The map also situates places such as Fish Springs and Laws within the valley’s working geography, where water, roads, and rail-era settlement histories intersect. In this dry country, each creek, spring, and drainage carries special significance, and the USGS treatment makes those delicate threads visible against the commanding mass of surrounding mountains.
The surrounding high country gives the Bishop Quadrangle much of its drama. Mount Tom rises west of the valley, one of the great landmarks of the Eastern Sierra, while Buttermilk Mountain and Brown Mountain mark terrain beloved by climbers, hikers, and explorers. Farther across the mapped region, names such as Coyote Flat, Convict Lake, Lake Crowley, Watterson Lake, Mono Basin, and Mono Lake evoke a landscape of volcanic plateaus, alpine basins, glacially carved valleys, and desert water bodies. The juxtaposition is extraordinary: sagebrush flats, steep granite escarpments, cold streams, high lakes, and arid basins all coexist within a relatively compact cartographic frame.
Historically, this 1951 map records Bishop at an important moment in its transformation. Long shaped by Indigenous presence, ranching, water development, and transportation routes through the Owens Valley, the town was becoming increasingly associated with outdoor recreation and access to the Eastern Sierra. Roads, settlements, and named landmarks reflect a mid-century landscape in which tourism, mountaineering, fishing, and regional travel were gaining prominence alongside older patterns of agriculture and resource use. The map’s clarity made it useful for navigation, but today it also offers a richly layered portrait of human interaction with a demanding environment. It captures Bishop as gateway, crossroads, and base camp for one of California’s most compelling mountain regions.
Cities, towns and places on this map
- Bishop, California
- Owens Valley
- Sierra Nevada mountains
- Bishop Creek
- Fish Springs
- South Fork
- Mono Basin
- Mount Tom
- Brown Mountain
- Buttermilk Mountain
- White Mountains
- Hot Creek
- Laws
- Independence
- Watterson Lake
- Lower Owens River
- McGee Creek
- Coyote Flat
- Convict Lake
- Lake Crowley
- Mono Lake
Historical context & cartographic details
- Published by the United States Geological Survey (USGS).
- Created in 1951.
- Historical 1:62,500 topographical map of the Bishop, California region.
- The USGS has played a major role in surveying and mapping U.S. land since its establishment in 1879.
- Uses contour lines to show elevation changes.
- Includes hachures and shading techniques to convey terrain relief.
- Cartographic elements are neatly arranged for clarity and navigational usability.
- Shows varied Eastern Sierra terrain, including mountains, valleys, and rivers.
- Reflects mid-20th-century infrastructure and land-use changes connected to tourism and outdoor recreation.
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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