Published by the U.S. Geological Survey in 1943, “Concord” presents the East Bay interior at a revealing moment, when rural valleys, expanding suburbs, reservoirs, roads, and rail corridors shared the same rugged landscape. Drawn at a 1:62,500 scale, the map embraces Lafayette, Orinda, Piedmont, Walnut Creek, Mount Diablo, San Pablo Reservoir, and the developing transport networks that tied Contra Costa and Alameda County communities to the wider Bay Area. Its disciplined USGS style—precise lettering, restrained color, and carefully graduated contour lines—gives the terrain an immediate sculptural quality. Hills rise, canyons narrow, and valleys open across the sheet, offering a vivid topographical portrait of a region on the cusp of dramatic postwar transformation.

The U.S. Geological Survey brought to this map the institutional clarity that made its twentieth-century quadrangles indispensable to engineers, planners, soldiers, hikers, and civic authorities. Rather than presenting California as scenery alone, the USGS rendered it as measurable ground: elevations, watercourses, roads, railways, settlements, reservoirs, and public lands are organized into a coherent geographic system. The result is both technical and evocative. Around Lafayette and Walnut Creek, the contour lines reveal the physical constraints that shaped early development, while the road network records routes threading through valleys and over ridgelines. In Orinda and Piedmont, the map captures communities still defined by their relationship to hills, creeks, and the approaches to the metropolitan Bay.

Mount Diablo dominates the eastern reaches of the map, its commanding elevation expressed through dense, concentric contouring that radiates authority across the surrounding country. Long a landmark for Indigenous peoples, Spanish explorers, surveyors, and Bay Area residents, Mount Diablo served as a geographic anchor for mapping much of California. On this sheet, its presence organizes the wider topography: valleys descend toward Walnut Creek, ridges separate settled corridors, and the landscape alternates between open upland and sheltered drainage. The map’s treatment of elevation is especially compelling, allowing the viewer to sense the steepness and complexity of the terrain without ornament. It is a portrait of landform as destiny, explaining why towns, roads, and rail lines took the paths they did.

Water is another defining theme of the “Concord” quadrangle. San Pablo Reservoir appears as a crucial engineered and natural feature, embedded among hills west of Orinda and Lafayette, while creeks and drainage lines articulate the valleys that guided settlement and movement. Portions of the Contra Costa Canal are also shown, an important element in the region’s twentieth-century water infrastructure, bringing Central Valley water toward rapidly growing communities and agricultural lands. These waterways and reservoirs reveal an East Bay shaped not only by geology but also by human ambition: storage, conveyance, and control of water were essential to suburban expansion, farming, industry, and wartime-era planning in the early 1940s.

As a historical document, this map is particularly rich because it captures the East Bay before the full force of postwar suburbanization transformed Lafayette, Orinda, Walnut Creek, and the surrounding unincorporated communities. Railways still mark vital corridors of movement, roads remain comparatively delicate against the hills, and green spaces and open terrain occupy areas that would later see substantial development. For collectors, historians, and admirers of California landscapes, “Concord” offers more than a topographical record: it is a measured snapshot of a region in transition. Its contours preserve the enduring form of the land, while its settlement patterns reveal a fleeting 1943 geography, poised between rural character and metropolitan expansion.

Cities, towns and places on this map

• Lafayette
• Orinda
• Piedmont
• Walnut Creek
• Mount Diablo
• San Pablo Reservoir
• Certain parts of the Contra Costa Canal
• Various roadways, including detailed road networks around Lafayette and Walnut Creek
• Parks and designated green spaces
• Railways
• Valleys
• Nearby unincorporated communities

Historical context & cartographic details

• Published by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in 1943
• Historical 1:62,500 topographical map of part of California’s East Bay region
• Shows detailed survey data from 1943
• Uses well-defined contour lines to illustrate elevation changes and terrain features
• Employs a muted color palette typical of USGS maps from the period
• Depicts rugged terrain characterized by hills, valleys, creeks, and reservoirs
• Provides a snapshot of early 1940s settlement patterns and topography
• Useful for comparing historical urban development and environmental change over time

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 18x24in (45x60cm) 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.