“Naples North” is a United States Geological Survey 1:24,000 topographical map of Naples, Florida, dated 1958 and carrying a 1973 imprint, offering a layered portrait of the city and its northern surroundings at a pivotal moment in its modern development. At this scale, the map moves beyond a simple road plan to reveal the relationship between settlement, water, elevation, and open land. Naples appears along the Gulf of Mexico, with the urban fabric rendered in the USGS’s characteristic pink, while waterways, lakes, canals, and coastal features are picked out in blue. The result is both practical and evocative: a mid-century record of a Gulf Coast city poised between resort-town elegance, expanding residential neighborhoods, and the still-dominant natural landscapes of Collier County.

Produced by the United States Geological Survey, the map belongs to one of the most respected cartographic traditions in American mapping. Since the late nineteenth century, the USGS has systematically documented the nation’s terrain, geology, hydrology, and settlement patterns, creating maps prized for their accuracy and historical value. Its topographic quadrangles became indispensable to engineers, planners, scientists, developers, conservationists, and travelers alike. In “Naples North,” that institutional precision is evident in the careful plotting of roads, drainage, contours, and built-up areas. The map is not merely a depiction of place, but a data-rich government record, preserving how Naples and its surrounding lowlands were understood, measured, and organized during a period of accelerating change.

The topographic character of the Naples area is subtle but essential, and this map captures it with the quiet exactitude for which USGS mapping is known. Contour lines describe the modest elevation changes of the coastal plain, while depression contours and water features hint at the area’s marshy, low-lying nature. The Gordon River, canals, lakes, and coastal waters help define a landscape shaped by drainage, tidal influence, and human intervention. The Gulf of Mexico forms the western edge of this world, giving Naples its maritime orientation and visual drama. In a region where a few feet of elevation could influence building, roads, and drainage schemes, the map’s fine topographical notation becomes especially revealing.

Naples itself appears as a growing urban center, with residential neighborhoods, road grids, highways, and civic infrastructure beginning to impose a geometric order on the coastal environment. Naples Airport is a notable feature, reflecting the importance of air travel and postwar connectivity to the city’s expansion. Around the settled areas, open tracts and lightly developed land suggest both the spaciousness of mid-century Collier County and the anticipation of future growth. Parks and green spaces appear amid the developing pattern, while canals and roads mark the practical transformations that made suburban and resort expansion possible. The map thus captures Naples not as a finished city, but as a community actively extending itself into the surrounding landscape.

Visually, “Naples North” has the restrained beauty of classic USGS design, using pastel color to make complex information immediately legible. Blue watercourses, pink urban zones, green parklands, contour lines, road classifications, and open land are balanced in a clear hierarchy, allowing the viewer to read both natural and human systems at a glance. Its significance lies in this combination of elegance and evidence. For Naples, the map preserves a mid-twentieth-century moment before later waves of development reshaped much of the region. It shows the city’s relationship to the Gulf, the Gordon River, its emerging neighborhoods, its transport links, and the undeveloped spaces that would become central to debates over growth, planning, and environmental change.

Cities, towns and places on this map

• Naples
• Gulf of Mexico
• Collier County
• Naples Airport
• Gordon River
• Various parks and green spaces
• Residential neighborhoods
• Roads and highways
• Lakes
• Canals
• Empty land indicating planned or undeveloped areas

Historical context & cartographic details

• Produced by the United States Geological Survey as a historical 1:24,000 topographical map of Naples, Florida and the surrounding area.
• Dated 1958, with a 1973 imprint.
• The USGS is a key source for accurate topographical and geological mapping in the United States.
• Shows Naples’ urban areas alongside surrounding natural landscapes.
• Uses a color-coded cartographic system to distinguish land uses and elevations.
• Water bodies are marked in blue, while urban areas are shown in pink.
• Contour lines denote elevation changes and depressions.
• Provides insight into the mid-20th-century development of Naples and nearby areas.
• Illustrates changes in land use, including residential development and infrastructure.
• Pastel colors enhance readability and make different features easy to distinguish.

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.