Titled “New Braunfels, Texas,” this 1985 United States Geological Survey map was published in the same year as its underlying survey data, offering a crisp late-twentieth-century view of one of Central Texas’s most distinctive regions. Drawn at the practical 1:100,000 scale, it presents New Braunfels, Canyon Lake, the Guadalupe River corridor, and surrounding communities with the disciplined clarity associated with federal mapping. Its special planimetric character is especially notable: rather than emphasizing vertical relief through contouring, the map concentrates on the horizontal arrangement of roads, settlements, waterways, wooded areas, and land-use patterns. The result is a clean, highly legible portrait of place—ideal for appreciating how human settlement, transportation, and water shaped the landscape in 1985.

The United States Geological Survey brought more than a century of cartographic authority to maps such as this, combining field survey, aerial interpretation, and standardized symbology into a national language of geographic precision. By the 1980s, USGS mapping had become indispensable to planners, engineers, travelers, historians, and land managers, documenting not only terrain but the built environment that increasingly defined American regions. This sheet reflects that scientific tradition: roads are rendered with fine, controlled linework; populated areas are clearly distinguished; water bodies and vegetation are handled with restrained color and practical consistency. Its elegance lies in utility, yet that utility now carries historical charm, preserving a measured governmental view of Central Texas at a pivotal moment of growth.

New Braunfels itself anchors the map with unusual cultural richness. Founded in the nineteenth century by German settlers, the city is long associated with its distinctive heritage, music, architecture, and festivals, including the celebratory traditions that helped make it a landmark of Texas Hill Country identity. The map situates this historic community amid the Comal and Guadalupe Rivers, waterways that have shaped local recreation, settlement, and industry. Landa Park appears as one of the area’s beloved green spaces, tied to springs, river landscapes, and civic life. Nearby subdivisions and neighborhoods suggest the city’s expanding footprint, while the orderly street network reveals a community balancing historic town fabric with the suburban development that accelerated in the late twentieth century.

To the northwest, Canyon Lake forms one of the map’s most visually and geographically important features. Created by the impoundment of the Guadalupe River, the lake had by 1985 become a major recreational destination, prized for boating, fishing, shoreline homes, and dramatic Hill Country scenery. Its branching coves and irregular outline contrast beautifully with the rectilinear order of roads and subdivisions, giving the map a compelling rhythm between nature and development. Lake Dunlap and the Guadalupe River add further hydrological structure, threading through the region and linking communities, parks, and transportation corridors. Routes such as Texas Highway 46 help define the practical geography of movement, connecting New Braunfels with Canyon Lake, San Antonio, and the wider Central Texas network.

As a historical document, this map captures the region before decades of additional population growth, residential expansion, and changing land use transformed much of the corridor between San Antonio, New Braunfels, and the lakeside communities. Its planimetric design makes those patterns especially readable: instead of dramatic terrain modeling, the eye is drawn to settlement edges, road hierarchies, watercourses, and wooded tracts. The limited palette, with greens emphasizing vegetated areas and land cover, lends the sheet a restrained visual sophistication while keeping geographic information paramount. For anyone drawn to Texas history, urban growth, or the cartographic language of the USGS, “New Braunfels, Texas” offers a beautifully ordered snapshot of a fast-changing landscape in 1985.

Cities, towns and places on this map

• Canyon Lake
• New Braunfels
• San Antonio
• Landa Park
• Guadalupe River
• Comal River
• Lake Dunlap
• Wooded areas
• Texas Highway 46 and other roads
• Smaller neighborhoods and subdivisions throughout New Braunfels and nearby areas
• Other notable attractions and parks in the vicinity

Historical context & cartographic details

• Produced by the United States Geological Survey (USGS)
• Published in 1985 using historical survey data from 1985
• Planimetric map, focusing on the horizontal layout of features rather than vertical relief
• Drawn at a 1:100,000 scale, showing terrain features, water bodies, roads, and urban areas
• Uses a clear, functional cartographic style with a limited color palette, including shades of green for land cover and topographic features
• Fine linework is used to demarcate roads and features, supporting navigation and landscape interpretation
• New Braunfels is historically significant for its German heritage and festivals
• Canyon Lake is prominently shown and is known for recreation and natural beauty
• Captures the New Braunfels and Canyon Lake area before later population growth, development, and land-use changes באַ

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 36x20in (90x50cm) 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.