Published in 1915 by the United States Geological Survey, the map titled “Honomu” presents an early twentieth-century topographical portrait of Wailea, Honomu, and the surrounding Hawaiian landscape at the detailed scale of 1:62,500. Its finely drawn contour lines translate volcanic terrain into an elegant scientific language, revealing ridges, valleys, coastal slopes, and upland gradients with remarkable clarity. The muted palette and disciplined typography are characteristic of USGS cartography of the period: restrained, legible, and quietly authoritative. At a time when Hawaii’s landscapes were being increasingly surveyed, cultivated, and connected by roads and trails, this map captured both the natural drama of the islands and the human footprint beginning to reshape them.

The United States Geological Survey, founded in 1879, became one of the most influential cartographic institutions in American history, producing maps that served explorers, engineers, land managers, soldiers, scientists, and settlers. In Hawaii, its work held particular importance, because the islands’ steep volcanic relief, dramatic coastlines, and rapidly changing agricultural districts demanded accurate topographical representation. This “Honomu” sheet belongs to that tradition of practical elegance. Rather than offering decorative embellishment, it conveys authority through measurement: contours, place names, drainage patterns, roads, and trails form a dense visual archive of the land. The result is a map that is at once utilitarian and beautiful, a document of federal scientific ambition applied to one of the Pacific’s most distinctive environments.

The mapped region includes places such as Wailea, Honomu, Kihei, Makena, Wailuku, Paia, Hookena Point, and the South Hilo District, situating named settlements within a broader geography of coast, slope, and ocean. The Pacific Ocean frames the landward detail, while coastal features along the southern shores emphasize the intimate relationship between settlement and sea. Roads and trails thread through the terrain, showing patterns of movement before the full force of modern resort development and highway infrastructure transformed many Hawaiian localities. Wailea, now associated with luxury resorts and planned coastal communities, appears here in a far earlier context, when land use, access, and settlement were markedly different from the polished landscape known today.

Topographically, the map is especially compelling. The contour patterns reveal the varied terrain of Hawaii with a precision that invites close reading: tightly nested lines indicate steep slopes and mountainous ground, while more open spacing suggests gentler valleys and coastal plains. These elevation markings evoke the islands’ volcanic origins, where lava-built landforms descend from upland interiors toward the ocean in complex folds, gulches, and ridges. In an era before aerial photography became routine, such maps distilled painstaking field observation into a coherent vision of the landscape. The viewer can trace how water, elevation, and access shaped settlement, agriculture, and movement across the region, making the sheet both a geographic record and a historical interpretation.

As a historical document, “Honomu” preserves Hawaii at a moment of transition. The early 1900s saw expanding plantation agriculture, evolving transportation networks, and increasing American administrative oversight following annexation and the establishment of the Territory of Hawaii. Over the century that followed, many places represented on this map changed dramatically: agricultural lands shifted use, roads multiplied, towns expanded, and areas such as Wailea became synonymous with tourism and resort development. Against that later transformation, the 1915 USGS depiction feels especially evocative. It records a landscape before contemporary urbanization, yet already carefully measured and integrated into a national cartographic system—an elegant intersection of Hawaiian geography, scientific mapping, and modern history.

Cities, towns and places on this map

• Wailea
• Honomu
• Hookena Point
• Makena
• Kihei
• Wailuku
• Paia
• South Hilo District
• Pacific Ocean
• Various contour lines indicating elevation
• Numerous roads and trails illustrated
• Coastal features along the southern shores

Historical context & cartographic details

• Map name: Honomu
• Published by the US Geological Survey (USGS)
• Dated 1915
• Historical 1:62,500 topographical map of Wailea, Hawaii, and the surrounding area
• The USGS, established in 1879, is known for producing reliable geological and topographical maps across the United States
• Features clear contour lines illustrating the area’s topography
• Uses a traditional early 20th-century cartographic style with a muted, legible color palette
• Shows varied terrain, including mountainous regions and valleys
• Reflects early 20th-century geographical understanding of the area
• Documents a landscape that has since changed through urban development, shifting land use, and agriculture
• Wailea has developed over time into a key resort area, contrasting with its less populated historical depiction

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.