Published in 1935 by the United States Geological Survey, this map bears the succinct original title “Springfield,” placing Missouri’s Queen City within the precise visual language of federal topographic science. The designation of the sheet as an “advance” issue evokes the practical urgency of New Deal-era mapping, when reliable geographic intelligence was essential for infrastructure, planning, engineering, and land management. Springfield appears at a revealing moment in its twentieth-century growth: still closely bound to surrounding rural landscapes, yet already organized by a confident urban grid. The map captures the city before later waves of suburban expansion transformed its margins, making it a compelling record of a regional center poised between small-city order and metropolitan development.

The US Geological Survey was, by 1935, the nation’s preeminent authority in topographic mapping, and this sheet exemplifies the disciplined clarity for which its work became renowned. Rather than romantic embellishment, its elegance lies in measurement: contour lines, road classifications, watercourses, and settlement patterns are arranged with a quiet, exacting precision. The contours are especially prominent, giving the Springfield area a sculptural quality and revealing the subtle rises, valleys, and drainage patterns that shape the city’s setting. In the Ozarks region, where terrain can shift from rolling upland to creek-cut hollow with deceptive speed, such mapping was not merely descriptive—it was indispensable.

Springfield’s urban grid is one of the map’s most striking features, set against the more irregular forms of creeks, valleys, and rural roads beyond the city. Streets and built-up areas show the organized expansion of a city that had long served as a commercial, rail, and administrative hub for southwest Missouri. By the 1930s, Springfield was already known for its transportation connections, educational institutions, and regional markets, yet the map shows how close fields, open land, and natural drainage remained to the urban core. This juxtaposition lends the sheet a particular historical richness: the city is mapped not in isolation, but as part of a working landscape.

The surrounding countryside is rendered with the same attention as the city itself, allowing the viewer to read the relationship between settlement and landform. Nearby creeks and shallow valleys articulate the terrain, their courses threading through the map as natural corridors that influenced roads, farms, and later development. Parks and open spaces appear as important breaks in the urban fabric, while the rural land beyond Springfield hints at agricultural patterns and the enduring geography of the Ozark Plateau. The heavy contouring gives these features depth and rhythm, transforming what might seem a simple city sheet into a layered portrait of place, movement, and elevation.

As a historical document, “Springfield” offers a valuable snapshot of the city before postwar highways, suburban subdivisions, and modern commercial corridors reshaped the region. Its careful depiction of streets, elevations, waterways, and open land allows changes in land use and urban sprawl to be traced with unusual clarity. For collectors, historians, and admirers of American cartography, the map is notable not only for what it records, but for how it records it: with the restrained authority of the USGS at a time when topographic mapping was central to national progress. It is both a technical achievement and a portrait of Springfield at a pivotal stage in its modern evolution.

Cities, towns and places on this map

• Springfield, Missouri
• Various roadways shown within the urban grid
• Nearby creeks and valleys
• Parks and open spaces in the Springfield area
• Surrounding rural land and geographical features

Historical context & cartographic details

• Produced by the US Geological Survey in 1935
• The map is titled “Springfield”
• Historical context notes this as an “advance” map
• The USGS is known for authoritative geographic and topographic mapping
• The map uses contour lines to show elevation changes and terrain
• Springfield’s urban grid is prominently displayed, including streets and built-up areas
• The map serves as a historical reference for Springfield’s development, land-use changes, and later urban expansion since 1935

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.