Published in 1893, the US Geological Survey’s “Oklahoma City” presents the young territorial capital and its surrounding country with the disciplined clarity of late nineteenth-century federal cartography. Issued at a scale of 1:62,500, and noted as an “advance” sheet, the map belongs to a moment when Oklahoma City was still a recent creation, founded only a few years earlier after the Land Run of 1889. Its title is strikingly direct, but the landscape it records is layered with ambition: a newly urbanizing settlement set amid rivers, prairies, roads, townships, and measured elevations. The light brown palette and precise contour work give the sheet an understated elegance, transforming a rapidly changing frontier environment into a carefully ordered geographic record.

The US Geological Survey, established in 1879, was created to bring scientific rigor to the mapping of the United States, and this map reflects that mission beautifully. By the 1890s, the USGS was producing maps that were not merely navigational aids, but instruments of national understanding, combining topography, settlement, transportation, drainage, and landform into a single authoritative image. In Oklahoma Territory, such mapping had particular urgency. Federal surveyors were documenting a region undergoing swift transformation, as new towns, claims, roads, and rail connections altered the meaning of the plains. The map’s “advance” status suggests the immediacy of that work: a preliminary but carefully executed statement of geography at a time when accurate information was essential for administration, settlement, science, and development.

Oklahoma City appears here not as a modern metropolis, but as an emerging urban point within a broad topographic field. Nearby communities such as Norman, Moore, Mustang, Yukon, El Reno, Cleveland, and Crossroads give the map a sense of regional structure, showing the constellation of settlements that would help define central Oklahoma. The Canadian River is a major natural presence, its course shaping movement, agriculture, and settlement patterns across the landscape. The Arkansas River system and associated drainage context remind the viewer that this was a country organized as much by water as by roads and town boundaries. Around these named places lie unnamed hills, valleys, and open tracts, the measured terrain of a region still being translated into civic and economic life.

The visual character of the map is a superb example of early USGS topographic design. Fine contour lines mark elevations and depressions, allowing the eye to read subtle shifts in the terrain around Oklahoma City: low rises, shallow valleys, drainage cuts, and the gently varied relief of the plains. Rather than rely on pictorial embellishment, the map’s beauty comes from restraint and precision. Its light brown tonal scheme emphasizes landform without overwhelming the information, while the clear linework creates a balanced relationship between natural and human geography. Roads, settlements, rivers, and relief are presented as interlocking systems, making the map both scientifically useful and aesthetically composed, a refined portrait of place through measurement.

Historically, this map captures Oklahoma City at a pivotal stage between frontier settlement and organized urban growth. The late nineteenth century was a period of intense change in Oklahoma Territory, as federal land policy, migration, railroad expansion, and town-building transformed the region. Seen through this 1893 survey, the city and its environs are still closely tied to the surrounding prairie, river corridors, and agricultural lands. The map preserves not only where things were, but how the landscape was understood: as terrain to be measured, settled, administered, and developed. Today, its quiet exactness gives it exceptional historical resonance, offering a rare view of Oklahoma City before the dense modern cityscape, when contours, rivers, and nascent communities defined the geography of possibility.

Cities, towns and places on this map

• Oklahoma City
• Canadian River
• Arkansas River
• Custer County
• Cleveland
• Norman
• El Reno
• Yukon
• Mustang
• Moore
• Crossroads
• Various unnamed hills, valleys, and elevations

Historical context & cartographic details

• Produced by the US Geological Survey, this historical 1:62,500 topographical map shows Oklahoma City and the surrounding area.
• The map was created in 1893 and is noted for its “advance” feature.
• The US Geological Survey was established in 1879 and became known for detailed and accurate geographical mapping of the United States.
• The map uses a light brown color palette with contour lines to show elevation changes and terrain.
• Distinct contour lines and shading reflect the USGS cartographic style of the era, emphasizing functionality and geographic accuracy.
• The map highlights elevations, depressions, hills, valleys, and other landform variations around Oklahoma City.
• It serves as a historical record of Oklahoma City during its late 19th-century development, following settlement in the former Indian Territory.

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.