Published in 1940, the United States Geological Survey’s “Barco” presents a finely observed portrait of North Carolina’s Currituck County and its coastal environs at a scale of 1:62,500. Centered on the communities and waterways around Barco, Corolla, Wrightsville, and Duck, the map captures a landscape poised between inland settlement and the Atlantic margin. Currituck Sound dominates the sheet as both a geographic anchor and a historical lifeline, separating the mainland from the slender barrier lands facing the ocean. The original title is spare, in the USGS tradition, yet the map itself is richly descriptive: a measured record of roads, railways, marshes, bays, creeks, and low coastal terrain at a moment when this region remained far quieter than the resort landscape it would later become.

The US Geological Survey brought to maps such as this a distinctive combination of scientific rigor and restrained graphic elegance. Founded in the late nineteenth century to classify public lands and natural resources, the USGS became the federal authority for topographic mapping, translating field observation and survey data into clear visual systems. On “Barco,” contour lines, color coding, hydrographic detail, and precise lettering work together to describe a subtle landscape where even slight variations in elevation matter. In the coastal plain, topography is not dramatic in the mountainous sense; it is read in marsh edges, drainage patterns, shorelines, and the delicate relationship between land and water. That makes the cartographer’s meticulous line work especially important, revealing a terrain shaped by tides, storms, sediment, and human use.

Currituck Sound is among the map’s most compelling features, stretching as a broad inland waterway behind the Atlantic barrier. Its presence explains much of the area’s settlement pattern, ecology, and economy, linking mainland communities with marshlands, hunting grounds, fishing waters, and narrow coastal routes. Corolla and Duck, now familiar names along the Outer Banks, appear here within a much less developed setting, their historical character suggested by sparse roads, open coastal ground, and the commanding nearness of the ocean. Black Bay, Little River, and the many named waterways and lakes add texture to the map, showing a region defined less by hard boundaries than by channels, wetlands, sounds, and shifting coastal edges.

The topographic character of the sheet is quintessentially North Carolinian coastal plain: low, level, intricate, and water-rich. Rather than dramatic escarpments or high relief, the map records a nuanced environment of coastal marshes, shallow bays, streams, road crossings, and settled pockets scattered through Currituck County. The Atlantic Ocean forms the map’s outer horizon, while the barrier landscape mediates between open sea and protected sound. This geography made the region both beautiful and precarious, vulnerable to storms and overwash yet sustained by maritime resources and inland waterways. The cartography allows the viewer to see how communities adapted to this watery terrain, with roads and railways threading through accessible ground and settlements occupying practical positions within a broader matrix of marsh and sound.

As a 1940 document, “Barco” belongs to a revealing moment in the region’s history. The United States was emerging from the Depression, federal mapping programs were central to infrastructure planning and resource management, and rural landscapes across the country were being recorded with new consistency. In Currituck County, the map preserves a pre-boom coastal world before late twentieth-century tourism, vacation housing, and resort development transformed places such as Corolla and Duck. Its roads, railways, waterways, and settlement patterns speak to a quieter economy tied to local transport, fishing, hunting, agriculture, and sound-side life. Viewed today, it is both a scientific survey and a historical witness: a precise image of the North Carolina coast before modern growth redrew its social and physical geography.

Cities, towns and places on this map

• Barco
• Corolla
• Currituck Sound
• Wrightsville
• Duck
• Currituck County
• Waterways
• Coastal marshes
• Atlantic Ocean
• Black Bay
• Little River
• Roads and railways
• Various named waterways and lakes

Historical context & cartographic details

• Map name: Barco
• Created in 1940
• Produced by the US Geological Survey
• Historical 1:62,500 topographical map of coastal North Carolina
• Uses color coding and contour lines to show landforms and water bodies
• Features detailed cartographic line work
• Depicts coastal plain topography, including flat wetlands, waterways, and low-lying terrain
• Reflects post-Depression era resources and infrastructure
• Provides historical insight into land use before later tourism and residential development in the region

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.