Titled “Hawley,” this U.S. Geological Survey topographical map presents a richly detailed portrait of northeastern Pennsylvania’s Pocono country, originally created in 1935 and later issued with a 1964 imprint. At a scale of 1:62,500, it captures the region around Hawley, Lake Wallenpaupack, Wallenpaupack Creek, and the surrounding uplands with the precision and restraint characteristic of federal scientific cartography. The map belongs to an era when the USGS was systematically documenting the American landscape for engineering, land management, transportation, and public planning. Its careful layering of roads, waterways, settlements, woodland, and elevation makes it both a practical survey document and a historical snapshot of a changing mountain region.

Lake Wallenpaupack dominates the composition, its long, sinuous outline threading through the folded terrain of the Pocono Mountains. Created in the 1920s as a hydroelectric reservoir, the lake transformed this portion of Pennsylvania, reshaping older stream valleys into a new water landscape that soon drew visitors, boaters, anglers, and vacation communities. On the map, the lake appears not merely as a scenic feature but as evidence of twentieth-century infrastructure altering rural geography. Nearby Hawley, closely tied to the lake’s development and to earlier canal and railroad history, anchors the surrounding network of roads, creeks, and wooded slopes. The result is a compelling view of a region poised between utility, settlement, and recreation.

The cartographic language of the map is especially appealing in its depiction of terrain. Contour lines ripple across the sheet, giving form to ridges, hollows, stream valleys, and the rolling highlands that define the Pocono Mountains. These lines reveal the physical drama of the landscape: slopes descending toward Wallenpaupack Creek, smaller tributaries cutting through wooded ground, and upland areas rising away from lake and town. The USGS topographic style is both technical and elegant, allowing the viewer to read elevation almost as a sculptural surface. Forested areas, water bodies, roads, and trails combine to create a layered image of a rural mountain district where natural features and human access routes are closely intertwined.

The map is also a valuable record of local development before the full maturation of the Pocono tourism boom. In the decades after 1935, Lake Wallenpaupack became one of Pennsylvania’s best-known inland recreation destinations, encouraging the growth of seasonal homes, resorts, marinas, and lakeside commerce. This map preserves an earlier stage in that transition, when the landscape still appears comparatively open, wooded, and lightly developed. Towns such as Hawley and Bethel are set within a matrix of streams, back roads, farms, and forest, while unnamed ponds and small watercourses hint at the ecological richness of the region. For historians of land use, it captures a telling moment between rural past and leisure-oriented future.

Founded in 1879, the U.S. Geological Survey became one of the great cartographic institutions of the modern United States, mapping terrain with a rigor that served science, government, industry, and the public. This “Hawley” sheet reflects that mission beautifully: it is empirical, exacting, and quietly expressive. Beyond its utility, it offers a finely grained historical image of northeastern Pennsylvania’s uplands, where water power, transportation, forestry, and recreation converged. The Pocono Mountains are shown not as an abstract vacationland, but as a real and intricate topography of ridgelines, creeks, settlements, and roads. For collectors, it is a refined example of mid-twentieth-century American topographic mapping and a resonant portrait of Lake Wallenpaupack’s evolving place in the regional landscape.

Cities, towns and places on this map

• Lake Wallenpaupack
• Pocono Mountains
• Hawley, PA
• Bethel
• Wallenpaupack Creek
• Various unnamed lakes and small water bodies
• Numerous trails and roads
• Forested areas and regions indicated for recreational use
• Contour intervals showing elevations
• Nearby streams and tributaries

Historical context & cartographic details

• Historical 1:62,500 topographical map titled Hawley
• Produced by the US Geological Survey
• Created in 1935, with a 1964 imprint
• The USGS is a scientific agency of the U.S. government, established in 1879, focused on natural resources, natural hazards, and landscape mapping
• Lake Wallenpaupack was created in the 1920s for hydroelectric power and later became a recreational destination
• Features contour lines to show elevation changes and accurately represent terrain
• Shows a mix of water bodies, elevation changes, and green forested areas characteristic of the Pocono region
• Records a region that has seen significant development since 1935, especially through the growth of recreation and tourism around the lake

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.