Published with a 1966 imprint from 1965 mapping, the US Geological Survey’s “Starkville” captures a mid-century portrait of one of northern Mississippi’s most significant college towns. Drawn at the precise 1:24,000 scale, it presents Starkville and its surrounding countryside with the quiet authority characteristic of USGS topographic work. The map records the town at a moment when its urban form, road network, institutional footprint, and rural edges were all in visible transition. Mississippi State University appears as a defining presence, anchoring the community and shaping the settlement pattern around it. For collectors, this is not merely a map of place, but a measured snapshot of Starkville’s landscape, infrastructure, and identity during the 1960s.

The cartography is classic USGS: clear, disciplined, and deeply informative. Contour lines trace the subtle rises and depressions of Oktibbeha County terrain, while blue waterways, ponds, and lakes articulate the drainage patterns that structure the local landscape. Forested areas are washed in green, giving immediate visual contrast between wooded land, open ground, and developed areas. Roads, minor routes, railways, and gridded reference lines combine to create a map that is both practical and elegant. Its design reflects the postwar USGS commitment to standardized, nationwide topographic coverage—maps that served engineers, planners, geologists, landowners, and travelers, while today offering an unusually intimate record of regional geography.

Starkville itself is the focal point, shown as a town whose civic and educational importance exceeded its modest scale. Mississippi State University, long central to the area’s economy and culture, gives the map particular historical resonance. Its presence suggests the patterns of movement, housing, commerce, and expansion that would increasingly define Starkville in the later twentieth century. The surrounding roads and rail lines speak to the town’s connections beyond Oktibbeha County, linking academic life, agricultural production, and regional trade. For anyone interested in the history of college towns in the American South, this map offers a grounded view of the built environment before later waves of suburban growth and campus expansion.

Beyond Starkville’s streets and institutional landmarks, the map opens into the rural texture of Mississippi: scattered smaller communities, wooded tracts, streams, ponds, and farm roads spread across gently varied terrain. The topographic language reveals how settlement followed the land, with routes adapting to creeks, lowlands, and rises rather than imposing an abstract geometry. Blue water features punctuate the countryside, while green forested zones show the persistence of natural cover around cultivated and inhabited areas. This interplay between town and countryside is one of the map’s great pleasures, allowing the viewer to see Starkville not as an isolated urban point, but as part of a broader environmental and social landscape.

As a historical document, the 1965 “Starkville” quadrangle is especially valuable for understanding change over time. It preserves the area before many later transformations in land use, transportation, university development, and residential growth. Comparing its carefully surveyed contours, roads, railways, and settlement patterns with the present day reveals the evolving relationship between Mississippi State University, the city of Starkville, and the surrounding Oktibbeha County countryside. The map embodies the USGS ideal of exact observation in service of public knowledge, yet it also possesses a quiet visual beauty: a layered composition of lines, colors, names, and terrain that turns a specific Mississippi landscape into a lasting historical record.

Cities, towns and places on this map

• Starkville
• Mississippi State University
• Oktibbeha County
• Various lakes and ponds
• Forested areas
• Roads, including major and minor highways
• Railways
• Streams and rivers
• Nearby smaller communities and rural areas
• Potential historical sites in the surrounding region

Historical context & cartographic details

• Produced by the US Geological Survey
• Historical 1:24,000 topographical map of Starkville, Mississippi and the surrounding area
• Dated 1965 with a 1966 imprint
• Shows Starkville during the mid-20th century, offering insight into urban development and land use
• Uses traditional USGS topographic styling with clear contour lines
• Color scheme differentiates urban areas, forests, and water bodies
• Elevations are marked by contour lines
• Forested areas are shown in green
• Water features are outlined in blue
• Includes a grid system for orientation and understanding spatial relationships
• Useful for comparing historical and current topographical data to study urbanization and landscape change

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.