Rare Old Map of Monterey, California by USGS, 1941 – Carmel-by-the-Sea, Pacific Grove & Pebble Beach
My maps are rare, museum-grade, restored old maps sourced from libraries, auction houses and private collections across the globe. 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
My maps are rare, museum-grade, restored old maps sourced from libraries, auction houses and private collections across the globe. 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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The 1941 “Monterey Quadrangle” presents one of California’s most storied coastal landscapes with the precision and quiet authority of the U.S. Geological...
Continue readingThe 1941 “Monterey Quadrangle” presents one of California’s most storied coastal landscapes with the precision and quiet authority of the U.S. Geological Survey. Drawn at 1:62,500 scale, it captures Monterey Bay and the Carmel coast at a moment before the region’s postwar expansion reshaped roads, suburbs, military lands, and resort development. Monterey, Carmel-by-the-Sea, Pacific Grove, and Pebble Beach appear not as isolated destinations, but as settlements woven into a dramatic topographic setting of headlands, beaches, river valleys, and rising inland hills. Its “advance” designation gives the map an added documentary interest, suggesting a working issue prepared to place updated geographic knowledge into circulation quickly for scientific, civic, and planning use.
The map’s visual language is classic USGS topography: elegant contour lines trace every fold of terrain, while color differentiates landforms, watercourses, roads, and settlements with disciplined clarity. Around the coast, the cartography becomes especially evocative, rendering the scalloped edge of Monterey Bay, the rocky promontories near Cypress Point, and the sweep of beaches near Pacific Grove and Asilomar. Shading and contouring combine to create a subtle three-dimensional effect, allowing the viewer to read the steepness of slopes, the drainage of valleys, and the close relationship between settlement and landform. The result is both a technical document and a portrait of place, where scientific measurement becomes visually compelling.
Historically, the Monterey Peninsula was already a landscape of layered identities by 1941: Spanish mission heritage, fishing and canning industries, elite resort enclaves, military installations, and wild coastline all occupied the same narrow geography. Cannery Row and Monterey evoke the sardine industry that defined the waterfront in the early twentieth century, while Mission San Carlos Borromeo anchors Carmel’s deeper colonial history. Pebble Beach and 17-Mile Drive mark the rise of scenic tourism and private coastal development, tracing a route through cypress groves, golf links, and surf-cut shoreline. Fort Ord, meanwhile, points to the military importance of the region on the eve of America’s entry into World War II.
Natural features dominate the composition as much as towns and roads. The Carmel River and Salinas River systems structure the inland valleys, guiding settlement, agriculture, and transportation through a rugged coastal environment. Point Lobos appears near Carmel as one of the most celebrated rocky headlands on the California coast, a place renowned for wind-sculpted cypress, marine life, and dramatic ocean views. Farther south, the route toward Big Sur and Point Sur signals the beginning of a wilder coast, where mountains crowd close to the Pacific and travel becomes constrained by cliffs and canyons. The map reveals how narrow and precious the habitable margins are between sea, river, and upland.
As a work of the U.S. Geological Survey, this quadrangle belongs to a vast national project to measure, classify, and render the American landscape with consistency and rigor. Yet the Monterey sheet has a distinctive romance because its subject is so geographically rich: a famous bay, a historic presidio town, literary Cannery Row, Carmel’s artistic village, Pebble Beach’s coastal roads, and the threshold of Big Sur all held together in one mapped field. It records a coastline before freeways, subdivisions, and modern tourism fully transformed the peninsula. For today’s viewer, the map offers more than orientation; it is a finely drawn historical snapshot of one of California’s most evocative coastal regions.
Cities, towns and places on this map
- Monterey
- Carmel-by-the-Sea
- Pacific Grove
- Pebble Beach
- Point Lobos
- Fort Ord
- Point Sur
- Salinas River
- Carmel River
- 17-Mile Drive
- Scenic Highway from Carmel to Pacific Grove
- Cannery Row
- Laguna Grande
- Asilomar State Beach
- Cypress Point
- Moss Landing
- Mission San Carlos Borromeo
- Big Sur
- Coastal and inland topographic features, including hills, valleys, and beaches
Historical context & cartographic details
- Historical 1:62,500 topographical map titled Monterey Quadrangle
- Created in 1941
- Produced by the U.S. Geological Survey, known for comprehensive topographic mapping across the United States
- Shows the Monterey area before extensive later urban development and land-use changes
- Uses contour lines to illustrate elevation and relief
- Employs color differentiation to distinguish topographical features
- Shading enhances the three-dimensional appearance of landforms
- Depicts rugged coastal terrain, including hills, valleys, ocean proximity, natural formations, and human settlements
- Features intricate detailing of coastal contours and significant landmarks
- Noted as an advance issue or edition
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.
The 1941 “Monterey Quadrangle” presents one of California’s most storied coastal landscapes with the precision and quiet authority of the U.S. Geological Survey. Drawn at 1:62,500 scale, it captures Monterey Bay and the Carmel coast at a moment before the region’s postwar expansion reshaped roads, suburbs, military lands, and resort development. Monterey, Carmel-by-the-Sea, Pacific Grove, and Pebble Beach appear not as isolated destinations, but as settlements woven into a dramatic topographic setting of headlands, beaches, river valleys, and rising inland hills. Its “advance” designation gives the map an added documentary interest, suggesting a working issue prepared to place updated geographic knowledge into circulation quickly for scientific, civic, and planning use.
The map’s visual language is classic USGS topography: elegant contour lines trace every fold of terrain, while color differentiates landforms, watercourses, roads, and settlements with disciplined clarity. Around the coast, the cartography becomes especially evocative, rendering the scalloped edge of Monterey Bay, the rocky promontories near Cypress Point, and the sweep of beaches near Pacific Grove and Asilomar. Shading and contouring combine to create a subtle three-dimensional effect, allowing the viewer to read the steepness of slopes, the drainage of valleys, and the close relationship between settlement and landform. The result is both a technical document and a portrait of place, where scientific measurement becomes visually compelling.
Historically, the Monterey Peninsula was already a landscape of layered identities by 1941: Spanish mission heritage, fishing and canning industries, elite resort enclaves, military installations, and wild coastline all occupied the same narrow geography. Cannery Row and Monterey evoke the sardine industry that defined the waterfront in the early twentieth century, while Mission San Carlos Borromeo anchors Carmel’s deeper colonial history. Pebble Beach and 17-Mile Drive mark the rise of scenic tourism and private coastal development, tracing a route through cypress groves, golf links, and surf-cut shoreline. Fort Ord, meanwhile, points to the military importance of the region on the eve of America’s entry into World War II.
Natural features dominate the composition as much as towns and roads. The Carmel River and Salinas River systems structure the inland valleys, guiding settlement, agriculture, and transportation through a rugged coastal environment. Point Lobos appears near Carmel as one of the most celebrated rocky headlands on the California coast, a place renowned for wind-sculpted cypress, marine life, and dramatic ocean views. Farther south, the route toward Big Sur and Point Sur signals the beginning of a wilder coast, where mountains crowd close to the Pacific and travel becomes constrained by cliffs and canyons. The map reveals how narrow and precious the habitable margins are between sea, river, and upland.
As a work of the U.S. Geological Survey, this quadrangle belongs to a vast national project to measure, classify, and render the American landscape with consistency and rigor. Yet the Monterey sheet has a distinctive romance because its subject is so geographically rich: a famous bay, a historic presidio town, literary Cannery Row, Carmel’s artistic village, Pebble Beach’s coastal roads, and the threshold of Big Sur all held together in one mapped field. It records a coastline before freeways, subdivisions, and modern tourism fully transformed the peninsula. For today’s viewer, the map offers more than orientation; it is a finely drawn historical snapshot of one of California’s most evocative coastal regions.
Cities, towns and places on this map
- Monterey
- Carmel-by-the-Sea
- Pacific Grove
- Pebble Beach
- Point Lobos
- Fort Ord
- Point Sur
- Salinas River
- Carmel River
- 17-Mile Drive
- Scenic Highway from Carmel to Pacific Grove
- Cannery Row
- Laguna Grande
- Asilomar State Beach
- Cypress Point
- Moss Landing
- Mission San Carlos Borromeo
- Big Sur
- Coastal and inland topographic features, including hills, valleys, and beaches
Historical context & cartographic details
- Historical 1:62,500 topographical map titled Monterey Quadrangle
- Created in 1941
- Produced by the U.S. Geological Survey, known for comprehensive topographic mapping across the United States
- Shows the Monterey area before extensive later urban development and land-use changes
- Uses contour lines to illustrate elevation and relief
- Employs color differentiation to distinguish topographical features
- Shading enhances the three-dimensional appearance of landforms
- Depicts rugged coastal terrain, including hills, valleys, ocean proximity, natural formations, and human settlements
- Features intricate detailing of coastal contours and significant landmarks
- Noted as an advance issue or edition
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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