Published in 1973 using survey data from 1952, the U.S. Geological Survey’s “Atlantic City Quadrangle” captures one of America’s most distinctive seaside cities at a revealing moment in its modern evolution. At 1:24,000 scale, the map presents Atlantic City and its coastal setting with the precision characteristic of USGS quadrangle mapping: streets, developed blocks, shoreline, waterways, and low-lying terrain are organized into a clear topographic portrait. The Atlantic Ocean anchors the composition, while the dense urban grid signals the city’s long-established role as a resort destination. Seen through the lens of mid-century survey work, this is Atlantic City before the casino era, yet already shaped by tourism, oceanfront development, residential expansion, and the magnetic pull of its famous shore.

The U.S. Geological Survey brought a distinctly scientific discipline to maps such as this, combining field survey, aerial interpretation, and standardized symbology to create an authoritative record of the American landscape. By the mid-twentieth century, USGS topographic maps were indispensable tools for engineers, planners, scientists, and public agencies, especially in rapidly developing urban and coastal regions. The “Atlantic City Quadrangle” reflects that mission: it is not simply a street map, but a layered geographic document showing how settlement, transportation, water, and terrain relate to one another. Its color-coded design, including pink areas denoting built-up residential and urban development, makes immediately visible the footprint of human occupation along a fragile barrier-coast environment.

Atlantic City’s geography gives the map much of its drama. The city occupies a narrow coastal setting beside the Atlantic Ocean, where streets and neighborhoods press against the shoreline and the broader watery landscape beyond. The topographic character is subtle rather than mountainous: low elevations, coastal flats, beaches, inlets, and marsh-influenced margins define the terrain. On maps like this, small differences in landform matter enormously, because they reveal the relationship between habitation and the sea. The oceanfront, road grid, and developed zones together suggest a place engineered for access and leisure, yet always conditioned by tides, storms, drainage, and the physical constraints of building on a coastal edge.

The map is also a compelling record of Atlantic City’s place in American popular culture before its late-twentieth-century reinvention. Long before casinos transformed its economy after New Jersey legalized gambling in the 1970s, Atlantic City was celebrated for its boardwalk, hotels, amusements, conventions, and beachgoing crowds. The 1952 survey data preserves the city during this earlier resort identity, when the urban grid, residential districts, and recreational shoreline formed the essential structure of civic life. Published two decades later, the map appeared just before the dramatic redevelopment campaigns that would reshape public perception of the city. In that sense, it stands at the threshold between old Atlantic City and the casino metropolis to come.

As a historical object of urban geography, the “Atlantic City Quadrangle” invites close reading of land use and change. The pink-developed areas show how thoroughly the city and surrounding residential zones had been built out by the mid-century, while roads and streets articulate the patterns of movement that connected neighborhoods, visitors, and the waterfront. Parks and possible recreational areas hint at the civic and leisure functions embedded in the resort landscape. For collectors interested in coastal cities, tourism history, or New Jersey’s changing shoreline, this map offers a precise snapshot of a famous place in transition: Atlantic City as measured by science, shaped by the sea, and poised on the edge of a new era.

Cities, towns and places on this map

• Atlantic City
• Atlantic Ocean
• Various residential areas marked in pink
• Land features including parks and possible recreational areas
• Streets and roads shown through a grid system
• Notable landmarks, though specific names are not mentioned

Historical context & cartographic details

• Map title: Atlantic City Quadrangle
• Published by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)
• Historical 1:24,000 topographical map using survey data from 1952 and published in 1973
• The USGS is known for detailed mapping and surveys that contributed significantly to geological science and cartography in the United States
• Reflects mid-20th-century urban development in and around Atlantic City
• Features a color-coded system indicating different types of land use
• Depicts the coastal geography of Atlantic City and adjacent landforms
• Shows the evolution of land use as Atlantic City developed into a major resort community
• Highlights Atlantic City’s importance to New Jersey tourism, including its association with the boardwalk, casinos, and resorts

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.