Published in 1994 from 1984 cartographic work, the USGS sheet titled “Provincetown, Massachusetts” presents a late-twentieth-century portrait of the Massachusetts coast at a highly readable 1:100,000 scale. Despite its Cape-tip title, the mapped geography embraces the coastal world around Cohasset and its neighboring South Shore communities, setting populated places, harbors, roadways, and relief into one disciplined federal survey. Cohasset, Scituate, Hingham, Hull, Marshfield, Norwell, Weymouth, and Quincy appear within a landscape shaped by Atlantic waters, glacial terrain, and centuries of settlement. The result is both practical and evocative: a precise topographical document that captures the region before more recent changes in development, conservation, and shoreline management altered the visual and civic character of this part of Massachusetts.

The United States Geological Survey brought to this map more than a century of institutional cartographic authority. Founded in 1879, the USGS became the nation’s great recorder of landforms, waterways, mineral resources, and human infrastructure, producing maps whose visual language defined how Americans understood terrain. Here, the agency’s characteristic clarity is evident in the systematic grid, standardized symbols, and careful differentiation of natural and built environments. Elevation is expressed through contouring and color, while roads, settlements, streams, beaches, and coastal margins are arranged with a sober elegance. This is not ornamental cartography in the old maritime tradition, but a modern governmental aesthetic: lucid, data-rich, and quietly beautiful in its confidence that every feature belongs in measurable relation to the next.

The coastline is the great protagonist of the map. Cape Cod Bay and the Atlantic Ocean frame a shore cut with harbors, inlets, beaches, and tidal waters, including Cohasset Harbor, Little Harbor, and the Weir River. Hull and Nantasket Beach evoke the long recreational history of Boston’s seaside edge, while Scituate and Cohasset suggest older maritime villages, lighthouse approaches, and rocky New England shorelines. Islands such as Deblois Island and Governor’s Island add texture to the marine geography, reminding the viewer that this is a coast of passages, anchorages, and protected waters. The sheet’s treatment of coastal features gives a vivid sense of the meeting point between dense metropolitan Massachusetts and the open Atlantic environment beyond it.

Inland, the map records the intricate relationship between settlement and topography. Route 3A and Route 228 serve as key corridors through towns whose historic centers, residential districts, and shore roads follow older patterns of movement along ridges, rivers, and coves. The Neponset River, local ponds, marshes, and smaller waterways reveal a landscape where hydrology has shaped both development and conservation. The Blue Hills rise as one of the most significant landforms in the broader region, their contours offering a striking contrast to the flatter coastal plain and tidal margins. Parks and recreational areas appear not as afterthoughts, but as integral features in a densely settled region that has long balanced access to nature with suburban growth.

As a historical artifact of the late twentieth century, this map is especially compelling for what it fixes in time. The 1984 landscape it records belongs to an era after the great postwar suburban expansion, yet before many contemporary changes in environmental regulation, coastal resilience planning, transportation pressure, and land-use redevelopment. Its road networks, shoreline delineations, developed areas, and preserved open spaces form a cartographic benchmark for understanding how Cohasset and neighboring communities have evolved. For collectors, the appeal lies in the combination of scientific precision and regional memory: a USGS map that transforms familiar Massachusetts names—Cohasset, Hingham, Quincy, Scituate, Hull—into a measured, elegant composition of terrain, water, infrastructure, and history.

Cities, towns and places on this map

• Cohasset
• Scituate
• Hingham
• Hull
• Marshfield
• Norwell
• Weymouth
• Quincy
• Cape Cod Bay
• Atlantic Ocean
• Cohasset Harbor
• Weir River
• Little Harbor
• Nantasket Beach
• Blue Hills
• Neponset River
• Route 3A and Route 228
• Deblois Island
• Governor’s Island
• Parks and recreational areas
• Lakes and ponds
• Lighthouses and historical sites

Historical context & cartographic details

• Historical 1:100,000 topographical map titled “Provincetown, Massachusetts”
• Displays Cohasset, Massachusetts, and the surrounding area
• Map dated 1984 with a 1994 imprint
• Created/published by the United States Geological Survey (USGS)
• Features a clear, systematic grid layout to support navigability
• Uses distinct color coding for elevations and landscape types
• Shows man-made and natural features, including coastal features, waterways, road networks, and elevation contours
• Captures the geography of the area in the late 20th century
• Offers historical insight into land use, development, and environmental conditions at the time of creation

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 36x24in (90x60cm) 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.