{"product_id":"old-map-of-fenwick-island-delaware-by-usgs-1943-assawoman-bay-ocean-city-bethany-beach","title":"Old Map of Fenwick Island, Delaware by USGS, 1943 – Assawoman Bay, Ocean City \u0026 Bethany Beach","description":"\u003cp\u003eProduced by the United States Geological Survey from 1943 survey data, “Assawoman Bay” captures the Delaware–Maryland coast at a revealing moment in its twentieth-century history. Centered on Fenwick Island and the sheltered waters behind the Atlantic barrier, the map presents a landscape poised between maritime wilderness and resort development. At a scale of 1:31,680, it offers a richly detailed view of Assawoman Bay, Little Assawoman Bay, Bethany Beach, Ocean City, and the narrow threads of road, settlement, marsh, and woodland that shaped life along this low coastal margin. Its careful color-coding and contour work evoke the disciplined clarity of mid-century USGS cartography, while preserving the character of a shoreline before later decades of expansion transformed the region.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe map is especially compelling for its treatment of coastal form. Fenwick Island appears not merely as a resort name, but as part of a dynamic barrier system separating the Atlantic Ocean from a network of inland bays, tidal creeks, marshes, and wooded necks. Assawoman Bay and Little Assawoman Bay dominate the composition, their irregular shorelines revealing the shallow, shifting geography of the Delmarva coast. St. Martin’s River winds inland with quiet importance, linking the bays to settlements and agricultural lands beyond the immediate shore. The fine linework traces creeks, inlets, roads, and contours with understated precision, allowing the viewer to read both the natural vulnerability and the geographic richness of this Atlantic edge.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAs a USGS topographical map, this sheet belongs to a tradition of practical elegance: a cartographic language designed for accuracy, legibility, and national coverage, yet full of regional personality. Elevation changes are subtle in this flat coastal environment, but the contour lines make those modest rises and depressions meaningful, distinguishing beach ridges, low woods, marshy margins, and settled ground. The color scheme separates water, forest, developed places, and open terrain in a clear, functional style characteristic of the period. Rather than dramatizing the landscape, the map quietly reveals it—showing how roads, villages, bays, and Atlantic frontage were interwoven in a region where even small changes in elevation could shape settlement and access.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe named places give the map a strong historical texture. Fenwick Island, Bethany Beach, and Ocean City mark the emerging resort geography of the coast, while Dickerson, Bayville, East Dublin, Gleys Neck, and Martin’s Neck suggest a more local, rural world of farms, wooded tracts, and waterside communities. The Isle of Wight and St. Martin’s River place the Maryland side of the sheet within a broader network of bayside settlement, while the Atlantic shore hints at the recreational future that would come to define much of the area. Seen through the lens of 1943, these places appear in a quieter configuration, before intensive postwar development, highway growth, and expanding tourism reshaped the shoreline.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHistorically, “Assawoman Bay” is a valuable portrait of the Delaware and Maryland coast during the Second World War era, when accurate mapping of American terrain carried both civic and strategic importance. The sheet records infrastructure, settlement patterns, forests, wetlands, and waterways at a time when coastal communities were still comparatively modest and many natural features remained less altered than they would become. For collectors, its appeal lies in that balance: it is a rigorous government survey and a document of place, preserving the pre-boom character of a beloved Atlantic coastline. The result is a map of quiet sophistication, rich in local detail and evocative of a landscape suspended between working coast, natural refuge, and seaside destination.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eCities, towns and places on this map\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eFenwick Island\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eAssawoman Bay\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eLittle Assawoman Bay\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eIsle of Wight\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eSt. Martin's River\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eOcean City\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eBethany Beach\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eDickerson\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eBayville\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eGleys Neck\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eMartin's Neck\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eEast Dublin\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eOcean Atlantic\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eVarious unnamed coastal features, forests, and waterways\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eHistorical context \u0026amp; cartographic details\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eProduced by the US Geological Survey\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eCreated using survey data from 1943\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eScale: 1:31,680\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eFocuses primarily on Fenwick Island, Delaware, and the surrounding coastal area\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eUses color-coding to show different land types and elevations, including water bodies, forests, and urban areas\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eShows coastal topography, islands, nearby bays, and elevation changes through contour lines\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eReflects the geographical and infrastructural state of the area in 1943, before later regional development\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eFeatures color usage and line details typical of USGS topographical maps from this era\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eLooking for a particular place?\u003c\/strong\u003e Review the detailed images to confirm that the town, landmark or feature you have in mind appears on the map. If you are unsure, \u003ca target=\"”_blank”\" href=\"\/it\/pages\/contact-us\"\u003eask our workshop to check before you order\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eDetailed 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.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis map looks amazing at sizes all the way up to 50in (125cm). If you are looking for a larger map, please \u003ca href=\"\/it\/pages\/contact-us\"\u003eget in touch\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe model in the listing images is holding the 16x20in (40x50cm) version of this map.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhere personalisation is available, you can add a short title or dedication, mark one meaningful place, or request one considered visual detail. \u003ca target=\"”_blank”\" href=\"\/it\/pages\/map-personalisation\"\u003eSee personalised map examples\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eEvery 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.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWith 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 \u003ca target=\"”_blank”\" href=\"\/it\/collections\/all-old-vintage-antique-maps\"\u003erare old and vintage maps\u003c\/a\u003e to discover another place, period or style.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"The Unique Maps Co.","offers":[{"title":"12x16in (30x40cm) \/ Map","offer_id":58792671740288,"sku":null,"price":75.0,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true},{"title":"12x16in (30x40cm) \/ Framed map","offer_id":58792671773056,"sku":null,"price":202.0,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true},{"title":"12x16in (30x40cm) \/ Framed canvas map","offer_id":58792671805824,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true},{"title":"A3 (297x420mm) \/ Map","offer_id":58792671838592,"sku":null,"price":75.0,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true},{"title":"A3 (297x420mm) \/ Framed map","offer_id":58792671871360,"sku":null,"price":202.0,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true},{"title":"A3 (297x420mm) \/ Framed canvas 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