{"product_id":"old-map-of-yankton-south-dakota-by-usgs-1968-gavins-point-dam-missouri-river","title":"Old Map of Yankton, South Dakota by USGS, 1968 – Gavins Point Dam \u0026 Missouri River","description":"\u003cp\u003ePublished in 1971 from 1968 mapping, the US Geological Survey’s “Gavins Point Dam” presents the Yankton, South Dakota, region at a moment when the Missouri River landscape was being newly defined by modern engineering. The title itself centers the great dam west of Yankton, but the map is equally a portrait of river, town, road, and terrain. At 1:24,000 scale, it records the inhabited fabric of Yankton alongside the sweeping course of the Missouri, with Eastern Point and nearby lowlands set within a carefully measured topographic framework. The result is a precise late-1960s view of a borderland shaped by water, settlement, and federal infrastructure.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe US Geological Survey brought to this map the disciplined visual language that made its quadrangles indispensable to planners, engineers, scientists, and travelers. Founded in the nineteenth century to classify and understand the nation’s lands and resources, the USGS had, by the 1960s, refined a style of mapping that balanced scientific accuracy with remarkable legibility. Here, roads, trails, drainage, built-up areas, and elevation are rendered with the quiet authority of institutional cartography. The map’s conventional topographic design—crisp linework, coded color, and dense but orderly detail—reflects an era when geographic information was gathered through field survey, aerial photography, and painstaking compilation.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eYankton appears as the principal urban presence, its streets and approaches set against the broader geometry of river valley and upland. The Missouri River dominates the composition, not merely as a natural feature but as a political and economic axis, defining movement, settlement, and regional identity. Roads and trails radiating to and from Yankton show the town’s role as a local hub, while smaller features and elevation marks reveal the subtler structure of the surrounding countryside. The contour lines give the landscape an almost sculptural clarity, tracing slopes, terraces, and breaks that would otherwise be invisible from a simple road or political map.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eGavins Point Dam is the historical anchor of the sheet, one of the major Missouri River projects associated with flood control, navigation, irrigation, recreation, and hydroelectric power. Completed in the mid-twentieth century, the dam helped transform the river corridor near Yankton, creating new relationships between shorelines, infrastructure, and settlement. This map captures the area after that transformation had become part of the region’s working geography. In the broader context of the Pick-Sloan Missouri Basin Program, Gavins Point represents the era’s confidence in large-scale water management, while the surrounding topography reminds the viewer that even monumental engineering had to answer to the land’s enduring forms.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe map’s clear color scheme, with red and green elements working alongside close contouring, gives the terrain a pronounced relief effect and makes the Yankton landscape immediately intelligible. Its visual appeal lies in this combination of technical restraint and geographic richness: the river’s curves, the measured lift of the land, the ordered traces of roads, and the named places all coexist within a calm cartographic grid. As a historical document, it preserves the late-1960s arrangement of a place since altered by development, recreation, shifting infrastructure, and natural change. It is both a scientific record and an evocative image of the Missouri River country at a particular modern moment.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eCities, towns and places on this map\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eYankton\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eGavins Point Dam\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eMissouri River\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eEastern Point\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eRoads and trails leading to and from Yankton\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eOther smaller geographical features not explicitly named in the provided context\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eHistorical context \u0026amp; cartographic details\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eProduced by the US Geological Survey (USGS)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHistorical 1:24,000 topographical map\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eDated 1968 with a 1971 imprint\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eShows Yankton, South Dakota, and the surrounding area\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eUses a clear color scheme with elevation contours indicated in red and green\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eDetailed contour lines show variations in elevation and terrain relief\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eFollows conventional topographic representation of the period\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eReflects the geographical layout of Yankton and the surrounding Missouri River area in the late 1960s\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eRecords an area that may have changed over time due to infrastructure development, urban growth, and natural alterations\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eLooking for a particular place?\u003c\/strong\u003e Review the detailed images to confirm that the town, landmark or feature you have in mind appears on the map. If you are unsure, \u003ca target=\"”_blank”\" href=\"\/pages\/contact-us\"\u003eask our workshop to check before you order\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eDetailed 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.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis map looks amazing at sizes all the way up to 50in (125cm). If you are looking for a larger map, please \u003ca href=\"\/pages\/contact-us\"\u003eget in touch\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe model in the listing images is holding the 16x20in (40x50cm) version of this map.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhere personalisation is available, you can add a short title or dedication, mark one meaningful place, or request one considered visual detail. \u003ca target=\"”_blank”\" href=\"\/pages\/map-personalisation\"\u003eSee personalised map examples\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eEvery 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.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWith 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 \u003ca target=\"”_blank”\" href=\"\/collections\/all-old-vintage-antique-maps\"\u003erare old and vintage maps\u003c\/a\u003e to discover another place, period or style.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"The Unique Maps Co.","offers":[{"title":"12x16in (30x40cm) \/ Map","offer_id":58781071540608,"sku":null,"price":76.0,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true},{"title":"12x16in (30x40cm) \/ Framed map","offer_id":58781071573376,"sku":null,"price":203.0,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true},{"title":"12x16in (30x40cm) \/ Framed canvas map","offer_id":58781071606144,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true},{"title":"A3 (297x420mm) \/ Map","offer_id":58781071638912,"sku":null,"price":76.0,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true},{"title":"A3 (297x420mm) \/ Framed map","offer_id":58781071671680,"sku":null,"price":203.0,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true},{"title":"A3 (297x420mm) \/ Framed canvas 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