Published in 1964 from survey data gathered in 1939, the US Geological Survey’s “Donaldsonville” captures a richly textured section of south Louisiana at a moment when river, bayou, plantation landscape, and modern infrastructure still met in visible layers. At 1:62,500 scale, the map centers on Donaldsonville, a historic Mississippi River town whose strategic position at the head of Bayou Lafourche made it a key node in commerce, settlement, and water management. The cartography is unmistakably USGS in character: precise, restrained, and dense with practical information. Roads, trails, waterways, wetlands, cultivated clearings, and settlement patterns are all carefully distinguished, allowing the viewer to read not only the geography of the region, but also the human effort required to inhabit and control it.

Donaldsonville occupies a remarkable place in Louisiana history. Situated near the junction of the Mississippi River and Bayou Lafourche, it was once considered for the state capital and later became an important river port serving the surrounding sugar-growing parishes. The map shows the town within the broader parish landscape of Ascension, Assumption, and St. James, where settlement followed the natural levees and waterways rather than a simple grid. Nearby Point Houmas evokes the deep history of Indigenous presence and colonial landholding along the lower Mississippi. The sinuous course of the river dominates the map, reminding us that in this part of Louisiana, geography was never static: the river shaped transportation, agriculture, boundaries, flooding, and the daily rhythm of life.

The topographic character of the map is especially compelling because south Louisiana’s drama lies not in towering elevations, but in subtle variations of water, ground, and use. Swamps, bayous, drainage channels, irrigation ditches, and cleared agricultural lands are rendered as a complex hydrological web. Lake Cataouatche and the Lower Mississippi River place the Donaldsonville area within the larger deltaic system, where fresh water, sediment, and engineered control constantly remake the land. The USGS symbology gives visual order to this low, wet terrain, distinguishing navigable waterways from marshy ground and human-made drainage. In a region where a few feet of elevation could determine settlement, cultivation, or inundation, the map’s fine topographic detail becomes historically revealing.

The presence of the War Department Corps of Engineers is a particularly important detail, reflecting the federal role in managing the Mississippi River and its floodplain. By the time of the 1939 survey, the catastrophic 1927 Mississippi River flood had already transformed American attitudes toward levees, spillways, and river engineering. Maps like this were tools of administration as much as geography, documenting levee corridors, drainage networks, transport routes, and settlement patterns in a landscape under constant negotiation with water. The numerous unnamed roads, trails, ditches, and channels are not incidental marks; they are evidence of an engineered countryside, where agriculture and habitation depended on coordinated systems of access, drainage, and flood protection.

As a historical document, “Donaldsonville” offers a layered view of Louisiana before the more intensive postwar transformations of highways, suburban growth, and industrial expansion. Forested margins, cleared fields, parish boundaries, waterways, and small communities appear in a balance that speaks to older patterns of rural life. The map is both elegant and utilitarian, turning a complicated landscape into a legible composition of color, line, and symbol. For collectors, its appeal lies in this combination of technical authority and regional specificity: it is a portrait of the lower Mississippi world, where culture, commerce, agriculture, and engineering converged. Few maps make the quiet intricacy of Louisiana’s river country so clear, or so historically evocative.

Cities, towns and places on this map

• Donaldsonville
• Point Houmas
• Assumption Parish
• Mississippi River
• Lower Mississippi River
• Lake Cataouatche
• Bayou Lafourche
• St. James Parish
• Various unnamed roads and trails
• Neighbouring forests and cleared agricultural lands
• Numerous drainage ditches and irrigation channels
• The location of the War Department Corps of Engineers

Historical context & cartographic details

• Produced by the US Geological Survey (USGS)
• Based on survey data from 1939 and published in 1964
• Scale: 1:62,500
• The USGS is known for comprehensive topographic mapping, emphasizing precise geographic and land-use data
• Features symbols and colors to denote different terrains, bodies of water, and land use
• Details elevation and landforms, including swamps, rivers, and urban developments typical of Louisiana’s geography
• Provides insight into historical land use and development patterns in Louisiana, including urbanization and environmental modification
• Captures both natural and human-made features of the Louisiana landscape during the period shown

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.