Published in 1955 from 1950 survey work, “Port Angeles” is a finely detailed US Geological Survey topographic map capturing one of Washington’s most dramatic coastal thresholds. At a 1:24,000 scale, it presents Port Angeles where the ordered grid of the city meets the deep waters of Port Angeles Harbor and the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Southward, the land rises quickly toward the forested heights of the Olympic Mountains, with Olympic National Park forming a powerful presence beyond the settled shoreline. The map’s colored cartographic language—contour lines, water tints, roads, trails, and boundary markings—makes the terrain immediately legible, revealing a landscape shaped by harbor, mountain, river, and coastal movement.

The US Geological Survey brought to this map the precision and clarity for which its twentieth-century quadrangles are prized. Created for practical use in land management, engineering, navigation, resource planning, and outdoor travel, it also possesses the quiet elegance of scientific cartography. Every contour is an act of measurement, tracing the rise and fall of ridges, valleys, bluffs, and drainage basins around Port Angeles. The map belongs to an era when field survey, aerial photography, and careful drafting were combined to produce authoritative portraits of the American landscape. Its beauty lies not in ornament, but in disciplined observation: the complex physical world rendered as an intelligible, colorful, and highly usable geographic document.

Port Angeles itself appears as a strategic maritime settlement, facing north across the Strait of Juan de Fuca toward Vancouver Island and the broader Pacific world. The harbor, long important for shipping, fishing, timber, and regional transport, anchors the urban pattern along the waterfront. Roads and routes radiate outward, suggesting the city’s mid-century role as a gateway between marine commerce and the Olympic interior. Nearby coastal features, beaches, and peninsular forms emphasize the intimate relationship between town and water. To the east, the landscape opens toward Sequim Bay, Miller Peninsula, and the Dungeness region, a coastal corridor marked by gentler terrain, marine inlets, and the distinctive environments of Washington’s northern Olympic shore.

South of the city, the topography becomes increasingly dramatic. Contour lines tighten as the land ascends toward Mount Angeles and the rugged approaches of Olympic National Park, conveying the abrupt transition from seaside settlement to mountainous wilderness. Valleys, trails, roads, and streams are woven through the relief, showing how movement through this country depends upon passes, drainages, and carefully chosen routes. The Elwha River, one of the great waterways of the northern Olympics, speaks to the region’s glacial and forested hydrology, while Lake Crescent evokes the deep, cold lakes carved into the Olympic landscape. The map’s terrain modeling allows the viewer to read geology, elevation, and human access at once.

As a mid-twentieth-century record, the map preserves a revealing moment in the evolution of Port Angeles and its surrounding region. It shows a landscape already shaped by roads, harbor activity, settlement, and federal conservation, yet still dominated by immense natural systems. Since 1950, the area has seen urban expansion, changing transportation patterns, shifting forestry practices, and significant environmental restoration, particularly in watersheds such as the Elwha. Olympic National Park’s presence on the map underscores the growing importance of protected landscapes in American public life. Today, this “Port Angeles” quadrangle is compelling not only for its cartographic precision, but for the historical perspective it offers on a city poised between sea, mountain, industry, and wilderness.

Cities, towns and places on this map

• Port Angeles
• Port Angeles Harbor
• Olympic National Park
• Mount Angeles
• The Dungeness
• Miller Peninsula
• Sequim Bay
• Straits of Juan de Fuca
• Elwha River
• Lake Crescent
• Several unnamed valleys, roads, and trails
• Coastal areas and beaches surrounding Port Angeles

Historical context & cartographic details

• Produced by the US Geological Survey as a historical 1:24,000 topographical map.
• Dated 1950, with a 1955 imprint.
• Published by the US Geological Survey, known for accurate and detailed topographical mapping in support of geographic science and land management.
• Features colorful cartographic elements, including contour lines to show elevation changes.
• Displays detailed elevation gradients, highlighting the varied terrain around Port Angeles, including mountain ranges and valleys.
• Captures the Port Angeles area in the mid-20th century, offering insight into land use, development patterns, urbanization, and conservation around Olympic National Park.

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.