Titled “Hanover,” this United States Geological Survey topographic map was created from 1959 survey work and issued with a 1967 imprint, capturing a mid-century portrait of the Connecticut Valley at the meeting of New Hampshire and Vermont. At a precise 1:24,000 scale, it presents Hanover and its surroundings with the clarity that made USGS quadrangles indispensable to planners, engineers, hikers, and historians. The map situates the town within a wider landscape of river terraces, wooded slopes, rural roads, rail corridors, and settlement patterns shaped by both terrain and travel. Its date gives it particular historical interest: this is Hanover before many later layers of suburban growth, highway expansion, and institutional development altered the appearance and movement of the region.

The US Geological Survey brought to this map the disciplined visual language that defined American topographic mapping in the twentieth century. Contour lines step across the sheet in close, deliberate intervals, revealing the undulating character of northern New England: broad valley floors, rising hillsides, and steeper wooded elevations. Greens mark forested and vegetated areas, browns articulate relief, blues trace streams, ponds, and the Connecticut River, while red lines emphasize principal roads and connecting routes. The result is both scientific and elegant, a measured landscape rendered with quiet precision. Every curve of elevation and bend of water suggests how geography governs habitation, agriculture, transport, and recreation in this distinctive part of the Appalachian uplands.

Hanover itself appears as the principal settlement, set near the Connecticut River and closely tied to the valley that has long defined movement through the region. Across and around it, the map shows Lebanon, neighboring villages, rural roads, and the patterned infrastructure of a working mid-century landscape. Railways and main thoroughfares reveal the transportation logic of the period, when river valleys still guided regional connections and local roads threaded between farms, hills, and town centers. The Connecticut River is more than a boundary or watercourse here; it is the great organizing feature of the map, shaping settlement, agriculture, crossings, and the visual rhythm of the valley from north to south.

Natural features lend the map much of its drama. Mink Brook and smaller tributaries drain the slopes toward the Connecticut, while lakes, ponds, and wet lowlands punctuate the surrounding countryside. The contouring around hills such as Mount Tom and the nearby uplands conveys the deeply folded character of the landscape, where ridgelines and valleys echo the greater Appalachian Mountain Range. Trails and parklands hint at the region’s longstanding appeal to walkers, naturalists, and outdoor enthusiasts, including those drawn to the celebrated long-distance footpaths of New England. Seen through the USGS lens, Hanover is not merely a town, but a place embedded in a living terrain of water, forest, and elevation.

As a historical document, “Hanover” preserves a moment when cartography served both practical necessity and civic memory. Its roads, railways, trails, and settlement names record the built environment as understood in the late 1950s, before decades of change reshaped portions of the Connecticut Valley. For collectors, the map offers a finely detailed view of a culturally and geographically significant New Hampshire landscape, balancing academic Hanover with the rural and natural world around it. For admirers of topographic design, it is a classic USGS composition: restrained, legible, and rich with information. Its beauty lies in the convergence of accuracy and atmosphere, where every contour becomes a quiet line of history.

Cities, towns and places on this map

• Hanover
• Lebanon
• The Connecticut River
• Mink Brook
• Connecticut Valley
• Appalachian Mountain Range
• Mount Tom
• Various parks and natural reserves
• Roads, including main thoroughfares shown as red lines
• Railways
• Trails
• Villages and rural areas surrounding Hanover
• Lakes and ponds

Historical context & cartographic details

• Produced by the US Geological Survey as a historical 1:24,000 topographical map of Hanover, New Hampshire and the surrounding area.
• Dated 1959, with a 1967 imprint.
• Published by the US Geological Survey, a key U.S. agency known for accurate topographic mapping used in environmental studies, urban planning, outdoor activities, and scientific research.
• Features contour lines indicating elevation changes and detailed geographical markings.
• Uses a color palette of green for vegetation, brown for elevation, and blue for waterways.
• Shows a mix of flat areas and significant elevation changes, reflecting the hills and valleys of the New England landscape.
• Reflects a mid-20th-century view of the region, including roads and railways that may have changed due to later urban development and natural events.

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.