“New Braunfels East” is a 1958 United States Geological Survey topographical map issued with a 1961 imprint, presenting a finely observed portrait of Gruene, New Braunfels, and the surrounding Texas landscape at mid-century. Drawn at the detailed 1:24,000 scale, it captures the meeting of town, river, farmland, and Hill Country relief with the clarity that made USGS quadrangles indispensable to engineers, planners, travelers, and historians. The Guadalupe River provides one of the map’s defining features, winding through a region shaped by water, limestone terrain, and settlement. In its careful depiction of roads, vegetation, contours, and rural holdings, the map preserves a moment before later suburban growth transformed much of the area.

Produced by the United States Geological Survey, this map belongs to one of America’s great cartographic traditions. Founded in 1879, the USGS became the nation’s authoritative mapper of terrain, geology, water systems, and natural resources, creating documents that were both practical instruments and elegant records of place. Its topographical maps were used for land management, infrastructure, environmental planning, and emergency response, but they also reveal the texture of everyday landscapes with remarkable precision. Here, the agency’s disciplined style gives central Texas a quiet grandeur: every contour line, road symbol, stream course, and patch of wooded land contributes to a measured understanding of the region’s form and use.

The map’s classic topographical design is especially well suited to the hilly character of the New Braunfels area. Contour lines articulate the rise and fall of the terrain, translating the subtle undulations of Texas Hill Country into a readable visual rhythm. Green shading marks wooded and vegetated areas, while red lines denote roads and routes threading between settlements, fields, and river crossings. This combination of color, line, and symbol creates a layered cartographic language: one can trace movement through the landscape, identify open agricultural zones, and sense the relationship between settlement and natural relief. The result is both scientific and visually compelling, a map that rewards close study.

Gruene and New Braunfels give the map much of its historical resonance. New Braunfels, founded by German settlers in the nineteenth century, became known for its distinctive cultural inheritance, festivals, architecture, and relationship to the Comal and Guadalupe river systems. Nearby Gruene, now celebrated for its preserved historic district and music culture, appears here in a quieter mid-twentieth-century setting, before its later revival as a heritage destination. Clear Springs and surrounding rural communities extend the picture eastward into farmland, road networks, and open country. Together, these named places evoke a landscape where German-Texan settlement, river commerce, agriculture, and modern transportation converged.

As a historical document, “New Braunfels East” captures land use at a pivotal point in the region’s development. The roads shown in red suggest a growing network of mobility, while the surrounding fields, wooded areas, and watercourses speak to an older agricultural and riverine landscape. Since the late 1950s, New Braunfels and its environs have experienced significant expansion, with residential development, tourism, and regional growth altering patterns of open land. This map therefore offers more than geographic information: it is a record of place before many contemporary changes. Its careful detail allows today’s viewer to compare past and present, making visible the evolving story of central Texas.

Cities, towns and places on this map

• Gruene
• New Braunfels
• Guadalupe River
• Clear Springs
• Various roads, delineated in red
• Dense vegetation areas, highlighted in green
• Contours indicating elevation changes
• Nearby rural areas and fields
• Potential water bodies, such as lakes or reservoirs
• Adjacent farmlands and agricultural zones

Historical context & cartographic details

• Historical 1:24,000 topographical map titled New Braunfels East
• Dated 1958 with a 1961 imprint
• Produced by the United States Geological Survey (USGS)
• The USGS has been instrumental in geospatial science and resource management since its establishment in 1879
• Uses a classic topographical style with contour lines to show elevation changes
• Various shades of green represent vegetation and land use
• Red lines indicate roads and pathways
• Illustrates the hilly terrain characteristic of Texas Hill Country
• Captures mid-20th-century land use and topography
• Reflects landscape changes over time, including urban development and land conversion since publication

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.