Published in 1982 from 1981 mapping, the “Garrison Quadrangle” presents a finely detailed USGS portrait of Garrison, North Dakota, and its surrounding prairie-and-water landscape at the 1:24,000 scale. This is the classic large-scale topographic language of the United States Geological Survey: precise contour lines, crisply differentiated roads and railways, carefully rendered shorelines, and a measured visual hierarchy that turns practical survey data into a quietly elegant cartographic composition. Centered on the town of Garrison, the map captures a place defined by the meeting of rural settlement, engineered infrastructure, and the vast presence of nearby Lake Sakakawea. Its 1980s date gives it particular documentary value, preserving the area’s roads, land use, water features, and civic landmarks at a distinct moment in North Dakota’s modern development.

Garrison occupies a significant position in the geography of central North Dakota, closely tied to Lake Sakakawea, one of the largest reservoirs in the United States. Created by the impoundment of the Missouri River behind Garrison Dam, the lake transformed the region’s physical and economic landscape during the mid-twentieth century, bringing new shorelines, recreation areas, transportation changes, and altered patterns of settlement. On this quadrangle, the surrounding water features are not merely decorative; they define movement, access, and land value. The Missouri River system, nearby lakes, and associated drainage patterns reveal a landscape shaped by both natural processes and large-scale federal engineering. In the map’s measured contours and hydrological detail, the viewer can read the ongoing relationship between prairie terrain and monumental water management.

The topographic character of the Garrison Quadrangle is especially compelling, as the map translates the subtle relief of the northern plains into a precise graphic record. Contour lines trace the rise and fall of landforms that might seem gentle to the casual eye, but which become legible here as slopes, draws, shorelines, and elevated ground. Lakes and unnamed water bodies punctuate the surrounding countryside, their forms carefully distinguished from the rectilinear order of roads, property divisions, and developed areas. This interplay between organic terrain and human geometry is one of the pleasures of USGS mapping. The 1:24,000 scale allows minor features to carry real significance, making the map useful not only for navigation, but also for studying settlement, drainage, access, and agricultural patterning.

Among the named features, Fort Stevenson State Park stands out as a landmark of historical memory and recreational geography. Situated near Lake Sakakawea, the park commemorates the nineteenth-century military post of Fort Stevenson, once part of the frontier network along the Upper Missouri. Its presence on the map connects the modern recreational landscape to deeper histories of river travel, military logistics, Indigenous homelands, and Euro-American expansion across the northern plains. Saint Mary’s Cemetery adds another layer of local continuity, marking community presence and ancestry within the broader rural setting. The McClusky Canal, roads, and rail lines speak to the infrastructure that sustained agriculture, transport, irrigation, and regional connectivity. Together, these features create a richly layered view of Garrison as both a town and a landscape of movement, memory, and adaptation.

As a work of the United States Geological Survey, this map belongs to a long tradition of national topographic mapping that combined scientific rigor with remarkable visual clarity. By the early 1980s, USGS quadrangles had become indispensable tools for engineers, planners, geologists, land managers, hikers, and local governments, offering a standardized yet deeply place-specific record of the American landscape. The Garrison Quadrangle is valuable precisely because it fixes a moment in time: the extent of development, the configuration of roads and railways, the relationship of town to reservoir, and the rural fabric around farms, fields, and water. Since 1981, environmental change, infrastructure updates, shoreline management, and local growth may all have altered the area. This map preserves the landscape as it stood, with an authority and restraint that make it both historically informative and aesthetically rewarding.

Cities, towns and places on this map

• Garrison
• Lake Sakakawea
• Fort Stevenson State Park
• Missouri River
• McClusky Canal
• Saint Mary's Cemetery
• Various unnamed lakes and water bodies
• Several roadways and railways
• Nearby rural areas and farms

Historical context & cartographic details

• Map name: Garrison Quadrangle
• Produced by the United States Geological Survey (USGS)
• Created in 1981 and published with a 1982 imprint
• Historical 1:24,000 topographical map of Garrison, North Dakota, and the surrounding area
• Shows lakes, rivers, landforms, roads, railways, and rural settlement patterns
• Uses contour lines to represent elevation changes and the topographic character of the region
• Includes detailed line work for contours and water bodies, suitable for navigational and educational use
• Reflects the landscape of the early 1980s, offering insight into land use, development, and geographic change over time
• Demonstrates the USGS tradition of producing accurate geological and topographic mapping across the United States

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.