Published in 1947 from surveys conducted that same year, the U.S. Geological Survey’s “Mamaroneck” captures a richly detailed portion of Westchester County at the classic 1:24,000 topographic scale. Centered on Mamaroneck and Harrison, the map extends across a poised landscape where suburban streets, commuter railways, harbors, wooded slopes, and tidal waters meet. It is a portrait of the post-war Sound Shore at a pivotal moment, when older villages, waterfront estates, and expanding residential neighborhoods were being drawn into the accelerating orbit of metropolitan New York. The familiar USGS language of contour lines, blue hydrography, and green vegetation gives the scene both precision and quiet elegance, revealing not only where roads and settlements lay, but how the land itself shaped them.

The United States Geological Survey brought to this map the disciplined clarity that made its mid-century quadrangles indispensable to planners, engineers, hikers, and local officials. Unlike decorative commercial maps, USGS topographic sheets were designed to make terrain intelligible: every contour, stream, road, railway, school, and built-up area participates in a larger visual system of measured observation. Here, the mapmaker’s craft is especially rewarding because the Mamaroneck area is not flat suburban abstraction, but a varied coastal landscape. Elevations rise inland toward Harrison and Heathcote Hill, while the land relaxes southward into tidal inlets, harbor edges, and the protected waters of Long Island Sound. The result is a quietly sophisticated study of settlement responding to topography.

Mamaroneck Harbor forms one of the map’s most compelling focal points, its coves, inlets, peninsulas, and waterfront edges rendered in the delicate blue vocabulary of USGS hydrography. Alongside Larchmont and Larchmont Manor, the Sound Shore appears as a necklace of coastal communities shaped by access to the water, proximity to New York City, and long-established patterns of resort, estate, and commuter life. The nearby presence of Long Island Sound lends the map a maritime character, with shorelines, islands, and harbor approaches contrasting against the ordered geometry of streets and rail lines. These waters were not merely scenic features; they structured commerce, leisure, property development, and identity for the communities clustered along Westchester’s southern coast.

Inland, the map records Harrison’s roads, schools, parks, and residential districts in a period of rapid post-war transformation. The late 1940s brought new pressures on land use throughout Westchester, as returning servicemen, expanding families, and improved transportation reinforced suburban growth. Route 1 and the established railway corridors anchor the geography of movement, revealing the older infrastructure around which later highways and modern commuting patterns would intensify. Sheldrake Lake, wooded tracts, recreational grounds, and gently rising contours add texture to the built environment, reminding the viewer that this was still a landscape of streams, hills, wetlands, and open spaces. The map therefore preserves a valuable moment before many later layers of development altered the region’s appearance.

As a historical document, “Mamaroneck” is especially evocative because it shows a familiar part of suburban New York at a moment both settled and unfinished. Mamaroneck, Harrison, Larchmont, Rye, and the western edge toward Greenwich are presented not as isolated towns, but as an interconnected coastal terrain of neighborhoods, transit lines, waterways, and civic landmarks. The map’s topographic detail invites comparison with the present: expanded road systems, denser development, altered shorelines, and changing recreational spaces all become legible through contrast. Yet the enduring structure of the place remains visible—the Sound, the harbor, the hills, the rail corridor, and the old village centers. It is a precise and atmospheric record of Westchester’s Sound Shore in the first years after World War II.

Cities, towns and places on this map

• Mamaroneck
• Harrison
• Long Island Sound
• Larchmont
• Rye
• Greenwich
• Mamaroneck Harbor
• Sheldrake Lake
• Heathcote Hill
• Larchmont Manor
• Route 1 and I-95
• Railways
• Parks and recreational areas
• Waterfront locations
• Coves and inlets
• Nearby islands and peninsulas
• Schools and landmarks indicated on the map

Historical context & cartographic details

• Published by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in 1947
• Historical 1:24,000 topographical map of Harrison, Mamaroneck, and the surrounding area
• Based on surveys from 1947, with no separate imprint year specified
• Uses contour lines to show elevation changes
• Features green for vegetation and blue for water bodies, typical of USGS topographic maps
• Shows detailed elevation changes and geographical features of the varied Mamaroneck-area landscape
• Reflects the post-war geographical layout of Mamaroneck and surrounding communities
• Provides insight into land use, development, infrastructure, and the natural environment in the late 1940s
• Includes clear delineation of urban areas, waterways, and natural features typical of USGS topographic representation

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.