Published with a 1959 imprint from 1957 US Geological Survey work, “Warsaw” presents northern Indiana in the disciplined, elegant language of mid-century American topography. At 1:24,000 scale, the map centers on Warsaw and Winona Lake, setting the urban grid, roads, rail lines, lakeshores, woodland, and contours into a precise visual record of Kosciusko County. The USGS style is unmistakable: measured contour intervals trace subtle relief, blue waterways define the region’s lake country, green shading marks parks and wooded ground, and cultural features appear with crisp authority. More than a navigational document, the map captures a landscape at a moment when small-city growth, resort life, agriculture, and transportation networks coexisted in a finely balanced Midwestern geography.

Winona Lake is the map’s great visual and historical anchor, its distinctive outline immediately drawing the eye southeast of Warsaw. Developed in the late nineteenth century as a summer retreat and assembly ground, the lake became associated with recreation, religious gatherings, education, and seasonal tourism. By the time this map was compiled, Winona Lake had already acquired a layered identity: part residential community, part resort landscape, part cultural landmark. The shoreline, roads, nearby woodland, and surrounding settlement patterns shown here evoke the transition from rural lakeside escape to more permanent mid-century community. In cartographic form, the lake appears both natural and social—an irregular body of water around which leisure, development, and local memory had gathered for generations.

Warsaw itself is rendered with the clarity characteristic of USGS mapping, its street pattern and built-up areas set amid lakes, lowlands, rail corridors, and state highways. Indiana State Road 15 and Indiana State Road 25 help frame the city’s connections to the wider region, while railroads and trails speak to older patterns of movement and commerce. Center Lake and Pike Lake lie close to town, emphasizing Warsaw’s identity as a city shaped by water as much as by roads. The map reveals a mid-century community still closely tied to its surrounding countryside, with urban development giving way quickly to open land, wooded tracts, drainage ways, and smaller lakes that punctuate the glacial terrain.

The wider sheet is rich with the hydrological character of northern Indiana. Lake Tippecanoe, Crooked Lake, Yellow Creek, Jones Lake, Silver Lake, Boggs Lake, and numerous unnamed ponds and wetlands form a network of water features that give the landscape its distinctive rhythm. These lakes are not decorative details; they are geological evidence, reminders of the glacial processes that shaped Kosciusko County’s rolling ground and basin-filled terrain. Contour lines gently articulate changes in elevation, allowing the viewer to read ridges, slopes, and low-lying corridors with quiet precision. Green-shaded wooded areas and parks introduce texture and contrast, suggesting habitats, recreation grounds, and patches of older landscape within an otherwise cultivated and settled region.

As a historical document, this map offers a refined snapshot of Indiana in the late 1950s, a period when automobile routes, expanding towns, schools, recreation areas, and rural land uses were being reorganized around modern infrastructure. The inclusion of places such as the Triton School District, local roads, rail lines, and lakeside communities gives the sheet a lived-in quality, connecting official survey work with everyday geography. The US Geological Survey’s standardized topographic method lends the scene scientific restraint, yet the result is quietly evocative: a portrait of Warsaw and Winona Lake before later waves of suburban expansion and recreational development further transformed the area. It is a map of place, movement, memory, and measured change.

Cities, towns and places on this map

• Winona Lake
• Warsaw
• Lake Tippecanoe
• Center Lake
• Pike Lake
• Crooked Lake
• Yellow Creek
• Jones Lake
• Silver Lake
• Boggs Lake
• Triton School District
• Indiana State Road 15
• Indiana State Road 25
• Several parks and wooded areas indicated by green shading
• Various unnamed smaller lakes and ponds
• Railroads and trails as indicated by the map features

Historical context & cartographic details

• Historical 1:24,000 topographical map dated 1957 with a 1959 imprint
• Published by the US Geological Survey (USGS), known for standardized scientific and geological mapping
• Shows survey data collected by the US Geological Survey
• Winona Lake has historical significance as a recreational area developed in the late 19th century as a summer retreat
• Uses traditional topographical cartographic design, with contour lines to depict elevation
• Features color coding to indicate land uses such as parks and urban areas
• Depicts varied elevations, lakes, and vegetation, reflecting the natural landscape of the region
• Provides insight into mid-20th century Indiana geography and the evolution of urban and recreational spaces

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.