Rare Old Map of Essex, Connecticut by USGS, 1944 – Old Saybrook, Connecticut River & Long Island Sound
Restored in our London workshop from the original 1951 map and printed to museum-grade archival standards. Full description
The Collector’s Offer
Choose two eligible works and receive 20% off both. Choose three and the lowest-priced one is complimentary, a maximum saving of 33%.
Mix and match eligible standard maps and fine-art prints. No code is required; the offer is applied automatically at checkout.
Standard made-to-order configurations are included. Bespoke sizes, personalised designs and commissioned work are excluded.
Need delivery to different addresses? Contact us before ordering.The Collector’s Offer
Choose two eligible works and receive 20% off both. Choose three and the lowest-priced one is complimentary, a maximum saving of 33%.
Mix and match eligible standard maps and fine-art prints. No code is required; the offer is applied automatically at checkout.
Standard made-to-order configurations are included. Bespoke sizes, personalised designs and commissioned work are excluded.
Need delivery to different addresses? Contact us before ordering.
Restored in London • Printed and framed in Australia
Restored from the original 1951 map and printed to museum-grade archival standards. Full description
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Gift message & custom finish
If you want to add a gift message, or a finish (jigsaw, aluminium board, etc.) that is not available here, please request it in the "order note" when you check out.
Every order is custom made, so if you need the size adjusted slightly, or printed on an unusual material, just let us know. We've done thousands of custom orders over the years, so there's (almost) nothing we can't manage.
You can also contact us before you order, if you prefer!
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Titled simply “Essex,” this U.S. Geological Survey topographical map presents the lower Connecticut River country with the precision and restraint characteristic of...
Continue readingTitled simply “Essex,” this U.S. Geological Survey topographical map presents the lower Connecticut River country with the precision and restraint characteristic of mid-century federal cartography. Dated 1944 and published with a 1951 imprint, it records a shoreline and riverine landscape at a moment when Connecticut’s historic villages, working waterfronts, rail corridors, and road networks were being drawn into the modern postwar era. At a scale of 1:31,680, the map offers an intimate yet comprehensive view of Essex and Old Saybrook, extending across the estuarine reaches of the Connecticut River toward Long Island Sound. Its careful use of contour lines, hydrographic detail, and color-coded land features makes it both a practical survey document and a finely observed portrait of place.
The U.S. Geological Survey, founded in 1879, became the nation’s great authority on measured landscape, producing maps that combined scientific rigor with exceptional cartographic clarity. In this Essex sheet, the USGS style is immediately recognizable: disciplined typography, precise road and rail notation, blue waterways, and finely graded contour lines that translate hills, valleys, marshes, and shorelines into an elegant visual language. Rather than dramatizing the terrain, the map reveals it patiently, allowing the viewer to read the land through subtle elevation intervals and the geometry of settlement. This was mapping as infrastructure—created for engineers, planners, travelers, military users, and local authorities—yet today it also serves as a historical document of remarkable beauty and permanence.
The heart of the map is the lower Connecticut River, one of New England’s great waterways, shown as it broadens near Essex before reaching the Sound at Old Saybrook. The river’s coves, islands, marsh edges, and tributary inlets appear in exacting detail, emphasizing the deep relationship between settlement and water in this part of Connecticut. Deep River is identified to the north, while Saybrook Point anchors the mouth of the river, a place long associated with colonial history, navigation, and coastal defense. Westbrook Harbor, Duck Island, Long Beach, and the open waters of Long Island Sound extend the composition seaward, giving the map a distinctive maritime character.
Inland, the sheet records the varied topography of the Connecticut shoreline, where low coastal flats rise into wooded uplands and broken ridges. Contour lines trace modest but meaningful changes in elevation, including features such as Chauncey Peak and the surrounding high ground that shape local drainage and routes of travel. Small ponds, creeks, wetlands, and forested tracts are interwoven with farm roads, village streets, and open country, preserving a mid-20th-century pattern of land use before later suburban development altered many of these landscapes. The map’s topographic detail invites close reading: a bend in a road following a slope, a railway seeking level ground, or a settlement gathered near navigable water.
The inclusion of Route 1, local highways, and railway lines gives the map particular historical resonance, capturing the transportation geography of coastal Connecticut during the 1940s and early 1950s. Essex, with its maritime heritage and riverfront identity, appears within a wider network linking small towns, harbors, industrial sites, and resort shorelines. Old Saybrook, one of Connecticut’s oldest European settlements, is shown not only as a historic place but as a working junction of road, rail, river, and sea. For collectors, this map is compelling because it fixes a familiar region at a specific moment: before interstate highways, before widespread shoreline redevelopment, and before many local landscapes were reshaped by the pressures of modern growth.
Cities, towns and places on this map
- Essex, Connecticut
- Old Saybrook, Connecticut
- Connecticut River
- Deep River
- Westbrook Harbor
- Saybrook Point
- Long Island Sound
- Duck Island
- Long Beach
- Chauncey Peak
- Route 1 and other roads and highways
- Railways, including the route through Essex
- Various water bodies, creeks, and ponds in the area
Historical context & cartographic details
- Produced by the US Geological Survey.
- Historical 1:31,680 topographical map.
- Dated 1944 with a 1951 imprint.
- Shows Essex, Old Saybrook, and surrounding areas in Connecticut.
- Features detailed contour lines indicating elevation changes and terrain.
- Uses color coding to show topographical features, including water bodies and forested areas.
- Relief is represented through contour lines and shading, indicating hills, valleys, and flatlands.
- Includes hydrographic features such as rivers and lakes.
- Reflects the mid-20th-century landscape, including features that may have changed due to later development.
- Offers insight into land use and infrastructure from the period.
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.
Titled simply “Essex,” this U.S. Geological Survey topographical map presents the lower Connecticut River country with the precision and restraint characteristic of mid-century federal cartography. Dated 1944 and published with a 1951 imprint, it records a shoreline and riverine landscape at a moment when Connecticut’s historic villages, working waterfronts, rail corridors, and road networks were being drawn into the modern postwar era. At a scale of 1:31,680, the map offers an intimate yet comprehensive view of Essex and Old Saybrook, extending across the estuarine reaches of the Connecticut River toward Long Island Sound. Its careful use of contour lines, hydrographic detail, and color-coded land features makes it both a practical survey document and a finely observed portrait of place.
The U.S. Geological Survey, founded in 1879, became the nation’s great authority on measured landscape, producing maps that combined scientific rigor with exceptional cartographic clarity. In this Essex sheet, the USGS style is immediately recognizable: disciplined typography, precise road and rail notation, blue waterways, and finely graded contour lines that translate hills, valleys, marshes, and shorelines into an elegant visual language. Rather than dramatizing the terrain, the map reveals it patiently, allowing the viewer to read the land through subtle elevation intervals and the geometry of settlement. This was mapping as infrastructure—created for engineers, planners, travelers, military users, and local authorities—yet today it also serves as a historical document of remarkable beauty and permanence.
The heart of the map is the lower Connecticut River, one of New England’s great waterways, shown as it broadens near Essex before reaching the Sound at Old Saybrook. The river’s coves, islands, marsh edges, and tributary inlets appear in exacting detail, emphasizing the deep relationship between settlement and water in this part of Connecticut. Deep River is identified to the north, while Saybrook Point anchors the mouth of the river, a place long associated with colonial history, navigation, and coastal defense. Westbrook Harbor, Duck Island, Long Beach, and the open waters of Long Island Sound extend the composition seaward, giving the map a distinctive maritime character.
Inland, the sheet records the varied topography of the Connecticut shoreline, where low coastal flats rise into wooded uplands and broken ridges. Contour lines trace modest but meaningful changes in elevation, including features such as Chauncey Peak and the surrounding high ground that shape local drainage and routes of travel. Small ponds, creeks, wetlands, and forested tracts are interwoven with farm roads, village streets, and open country, preserving a mid-20th-century pattern of land use before later suburban development altered many of these landscapes. The map’s topographic detail invites close reading: a bend in a road following a slope, a railway seeking level ground, or a settlement gathered near navigable water.
The inclusion of Route 1, local highways, and railway lines gives the map particular historical resonance, capturing the transportation geography of coastal Connecticut during the 1940s and early 1950s. Essex, with its maritime heritage and riverfront identity, appears within a wider network linking small towns, harbors, industrial sites, and resort shorelines. Old Saybrook, one of Connecticut’s oldest European settlements, is shown not only as a historic place but as a working junction of road, rail, river, and sea. For collectors, this map is compelling because it fixes a familiar region at a specific moment: before interstate highways, before widespread shoreline redevelopment, and before many local landscapes were reshaped by the pressures of modern growth.
Cities, towns and places on this map
- Essex, Connecticut
- Old Saybrook, Connecticut
- Connecticut River
- Deep River
- Westbrook Harbor
- Saybrook Point
- Long Island Sound
- Duck Island
- Long Beach
- Chauncey Peak
- Route 1 and other roads and highways
- Railways, including the route through Essex
- Various water bodies, creeks, and ponds in the area
Historical context & cartographic details
- Produced by the US Geological Survey.
- Historical 1:31,680 topographical map.
- Dated 1944 with a 1951 imprint.
- Shows Essex, Old Saybrook, and surrounding areas in Connecticut.
- Features detailed contour lines indicating elevation changes and terrain.
- Uses color coding to show topographical features, including water bodies and forested areas.
- Relief is represented through contour lines and shading, indicating hills, valleys, and flatlands.
- Includes hydrographic features such as rivers and lakes.
- Reflects the mid-20th-century landscape, including features that may have changed due to later development.
- Offers insight into land use and infrastructure from the period.
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.
Many of our maps and art prints are chosen as thoughtful gifts for homes, offices, studies and meaningful places.
Choose a framed option for the easiest ready-to-hang gift, or choose an unframed print if the recipient may prefer to select their own frame.
We make orders locally in 23 countries around the world, so gifts can often be produced close to the recipient. This helps them arrive faster, travel more safely, and avoid customs or import duty surprises.
- We can deliver directly to the recipient
- Framed pieces arrive ready to hang
- Unframed prints are carefully packed in a strong protective tube
- Almost every order is made locally, for faster, safer gifting
- 90-day returns give the recipient time to decide
If you are not sure what to choose, please contact us. We can help you pick the right map, size, finish or delivery option.
Most orders are made locally and delivered in around 2–3 working days, depending on the product, size and destination.
We print and frame maps and artwork in 23 countries around the world, so your order is usually made close to you or your recipient. That means faster delivery, less time in transit, and no customs or import duty surprises.
Personalised and customised pieces usually take an extra 1–2 working days, because we prepare your design and send it to you for approval before printing.
Very large framed orders can take a little longer, as they need extra care in production and delivery.
Every order is carefully packaged: unframed prints are sent in a strong protective tube, while framed pieces are securely packed with protective materials around the frame.
If you need your order by a particular date, please contact us before ordering. We’ll check the best production route and delivery option for your location.
Express delivery is available at checkout for most countries. Next-day delivery is available in the UK, US, Singapore and the UAE.
Your order is covered by our 90-day returns policy and 10-year guarantee.
Our standard frame is a gallery-style black ash hardwood frame, with a simple, modern look. It is approximately 20mm (0.8in) wide. You can also view some lovely customer photos of framed maps and art.
We use super-clear acrylic glazing, also known as Perspex or Acrylite, instead of traditional glass. It is lighter, safer, and has lower reflectivity, giving the artwork a clearer, cleaner appearance.
Six standard frame colours are available at no extra cost: black, dark brown, dark grey, oak, white, and antique gold. Custom framing and mounting/matting is also available for customers looking for something more specific.
Most maps, art prints, and illustrations are also available as a framed canvas. We use matte cotton canvas, stretch it over a sustainably sourced wooden box frame, and then float the piece within a wooden outer frame. The finished result is beautifully presented, with no glazing between you and the artwork.
All frames are supplied ready to hang, with either string or brackets fitted to the back. Very large frames will include heavy-duty hanging plates and/or a mounting baton. If you have any questions, please get in touch.
We can also supply old maps and artwork on canvas, foam board, cotton rag, and other materials.
If you would prefer to frame your map or artwork yourself, please read our size guide before ordering.
Every Unique Maps piece begins with an authentic cartographic source or an original design from our London studio.
For our historic maps, we source rare originals from libraries, archives, auction houses and private collections around the world. We carefully restore each map for print—repairing age-related damage, balancing colour and improving clarity while preserving its original detail, texture and character.
Once restored, the map is prepared for your chosen size and finish. Your piece is then printed and, where selected, framed close to its delivery destination.
Our map prints use acid-free 200gsm archival matte paper and fade-resistant pigment inks, creating a rich, non-glossy finish designed to last. Framed maps use crystal-clear optical acrylic and arrive ready to hang.
Canvas, cotton-rag and other specialist presentations are also available. Learn more about our materials and finishes.
Personalising your map
You can add a short title or dedication, mark one meaningful place, or request one considered visual detail. For personalised designs, we send a proof before printing and you can request changes before approval.
For more complex bespoke commissions, contact our design team.
Original or Aged
Choose Original for true-to-source colour, or Aged for a warmer, richer antique character created with our specialist ageing process. See examples of our Aged maps.
We’ve been restoring and producing maps and art prints since 1984, and we stand behind every piece.
Every order is covered by our 10-year guarantee and damage-free delivery guarantee. If your piece arrives damaged, we’ll replace or remake it free of charge. If anything else isn’t right, contact our workshop team and we’ll put it right promptly.
See our returns and refund policy for full details.
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