Titled “Palm Springs,” this 1957 United States Geological Survey map captures the celebrated desert resort and its dramatic surroundings at a pivotal moment in its postwar transformation. Published with a 1959 imprint, it presents Palm Springs not merely as a glamorous oasis of hotels, hot springs, and modernist homes, but as a settlement set within a striking physical landscape. The city appears against the broad floor of the Coachella Valley, with its gridded streets, local roads, and developing districts carefully distinguished from the surrounding desert terrain. Highway 111, the vital corridor linking the communities of the valley, anchors the map’s human geography. Around the urban fabric, the desert opens outward, while the nearby mountains rise with imposing clarity.

The map is a fine example of the USGS topographic tradition, in which scientific precision and visual clarity combine to describe the land in extraordinary detail. Contour lines, shading, and subtle color distinctions convey the rapid elevation changes that define the Palm Springs area, from the relatively level valley floor to the rugged slopes of the San Jacinto Mountains. This cartographic language makes the terrain immediately legible: washes, canyons, ridgelines, and developed areas all emerge as part of an interconnected desert environment. The USGS, long respected for its rigorous mapping of American landscapes, produced maps such as this for practical navigation, land management, engineering, and resource study, yet today they also serve as compelling historical portraits.

Palm Springs occupies a uniquely dramatic setting, and this map makes that geography central to the story. To the west and south, the San Jacinto Mountains rise steeply from the desert, forming one of Southern California’s most memorable topographic contrasts. Their slopes, canyons, and elevated contours frame the resort city, explaining both its scenic allure and its climatic character. The Coachella Valley extends outward as a broad desert corridor, linking Palm Springs to nearby communities such as Desert Hot Springs and Palm Desert. Roads and trails trace movement through this landscape, while the mapping of washes and canyon mouths hints at the powerful seasonal forces that shape desert landforms despite an appearance of aridity and stillness.

A particularly important feature of the map is its attention to Indigenous lands, including the Agua Caliente Indian Reservation and areas associated with Indian Canyons. These names mark a much deeper history than the mid-century resort boom for which Palm Springs is often remembered. The Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians has long been central to the region’s identity, with ancestral ties to the canyons, springs, and desert-mountain ecology shown here. The map’s boundaries and place names reveal the layered nature of land ownership and cultural presence in the Palm Springs area. Against the modern grid of streets and resort development, these reservation lands underscore that the landscape was never simply an empty desert awaiting urban expansion.

As a document of the late 1950s, this map offers a vivid snapshot of Palm Springs during an era of rapid growth and reinvention. The city was becoming synonymous with leisure, celebrity, golf, spa culture, and the clean lines of mid-century modern architecture, yet the map grounds that glamour in roads, neighborhoods, contours, and public lands. It records the expanding urban footprint before later waves of development further transformed the valley. The relationship between built districts and open desert is especially revealing, showing Palm Springs at the threshold between resort enclave and metropolitan desert community. For collectors and historians, it is a richly detailed view of a place where geology, Indigenous history, transportation, and modern design converged in the California desert.

Cities, towns and places on this map

• Palm Springs
• Agua Caliente
• Agua Caliente Indian Reservation
• Coachella Valley
• San Jacinto Mountains
• Indian Canyons
• Highway 111
• Local roads and trails
• Desert Hot Springs
• Palm Desert
• Various residential and commercial districts of Palm Springs

Historical context & cartographic details

• Produced by the United States Geological Survey, this historical 1:24,000 topographical map shows Palm Springs, California, and the surrounding area.
• The map is dated 1957 and carries a 1959 imprint.
• Palm Springs is shown as a well-known desert resort city, noted for its hot springs, stylish hotels, and mid-century modern architecture.
• The map features detailed topographic information, including elevation contours, hachures, shading, and color gradations.
• Different colors are used to distinguish land uses, vegetation types, and developed areas.
• The terrain includes mountains, valleys, desert landscapes, and urban development.
• The map provides insight into land use and development in Palm Springs during the late 1950s.
• It highlights the changing relationship between urban areas and natural landscapes in the Coachella Valley region.
• The use of contour lines and shading clearly communicates elevation changes, a hallmark of USGS topographic maps.

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.