Published in 1988 from 1983 mapping, the US Geological Survey’s “Kennebunk” presents a precise 1:24,000 portrait of one of southern Maine’s most evocative coastal communities and its inland surroundings. Marked as a provisional edition, it captures Kennebunk at a moment when traditional New England village patterns, expanding road networks, and wooded rural tracts coexisted in a rapidly changing landscape. The map’s restrained topographic language—contour lines, hydrographic detail, woodland tinting, and carefully classified roads—invites close reading. Rather than offering a decorative coastal view, it reveals the underlying structure of the place: the gentle relief, waterways, settlements, and transportation corridors that shaped daily life in and around Kennebunk during the late twentieth century.

The mapmaker, the United States Geological Survey, brought to this work more than a century of national cartographic expertise. Founded in 1879, the USGS became the authoritative institution for mapping the American landscape, producing quadrangles that served engineers, planners, hikers, scientists, and local historians alike. Its 1:24,000 series is especially admired for balancing technical accuracy with visual clarity, making each sheet both a practical instrument and a historical document. In “Kennebunk,” the USGS method is evident in the disciplined grid, standardized symbols, and elevation contours that transform familiar roads and settlements into a layered geographic record. The provisional designation adds interest, suggesting a map issued with an emphasis on timely coverage while retaining the rigorous conventions of federal topographic mapping.

Kennebunk itself anchors the sheet, appearing not merely as a named populated place but as the focal point of a broader regional pattern. Roads converge through and around the town, tracing routes of commerce, residence, and seasonal movement in York County. Nearby Arundel and Lyman extend the map’s narrative inland, where settlement becomes more dispersed and the landscape opens into woods, fields, wetlands, and small watercourses. The mapping of local roads, railways, and trails preserves a snapshot of connectivity before later decades of development further altered southern Maine’s built environment. For collectors interested in town histories, land-use change, or the evolution of Maine’s coastal hinterland, this quadrangle offers a richly detailed baseline for comparison.

The topographic character of the Kennebunk area is rendered through the USGS’s elegant system of contour lines and color differentiation. Although this is not a mountainous landscape, the subtle changes in elevation are essential to understanding its geography: low ridges, drainage patterns, and gently varied terrain influence roads, settlement, and vegetation. Green woodland shading identifies forested areas, while blue waterways and wetlands draw attention to the region’s hydrological texture. Lakes, streams, and rivers punctuate the sheet, linking inland terrain with the broader coastal environment for which Kennebunk is known. The result is a map that rewards patient study, revealing the quiet complexity of a landscape often perceived primarily through its villages and shorelines.

As a historical object, the 1983/1988 “Kennebunk” quadrangle is particularly valuable for the way it documents late twentieth-century Maine before more recent residential expansion and infrastructure changes. Its depiction of parks, forests, water bodies, roads, and settlement edges allows modern viewers to trace what has endured and what has shifted. The map belongs to a tradition in which topographic surveys recorded not only landforms but also cultural geography: where people lived, how they moved, and which natural features structured their surroundings. For Kennebunk, a place with deep colonial roots, maritime associations, and enduring scenic appeal, this USGS sheet offers a measured, authoritative view beneath the romance—a landscape carefully observed, classified, and preserved in cartographic form.

Cities, towns and places on this map

• Kennebunk
• Arundel
• Lyman
• Various lakes and rivers
• Parks and forests
• Roads, railways, and trails
• Notable landmarks and terrain elevations

Historical context & cartographic details

• Produced by the US Geological Survey as a historical 1:24,000 topographical map of Kennebunk, Maine and the surrounding area
• Dated 1983 with a 1988 imprint
• Marked as a provisional edition
• Uses standard USGS topographic styling, including contour lines to show elevation changes
• Green shading helps depict vegetation and varying terrain
• Shows relief and landforms through contour lines and color gradients
• Provides historical context for land use and geographic change in the Kennebunk area
• Useful for comparison with contemporary maps to identify urban development and landscape changes

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.