Titled simply “Marathon,” this United States Geological Survey map was created in 1971 and published in 1973, capturing the central Florida Keys at a moment of accelerating coastal development. At 1:24,000 scale, it presents the populated place of Marathon and its surrounding marine landscape with unusual immediacy, using the orthophoto technique to blend the precision of topographic mapping with the visual richness of aerial imagery. The result is a vivid blue and green portrait of land, water, roads, channels, and waterfront settlement. Key Vaca, Boot Key, Boot Key Harbor, Marathon Shores, and the neighboring waters of Florida Bay and the Straits of Florida appear as part of one intricate coastal system.

The USGS was especially well suited to produce a map of this kind. By the late twentieth century, the agency had become the authoritative cartographic voice of American terrain, combining field survey, aerial photography, geodesy, and standardized topographic design. Orthophoto maps represented a particularly modern stage in this tradition: aerial photographs were corrected for distortion so that features appeared in their true planimetric positions, allowing buildings, shorelines, roads, canals, and vegetation patterns to be read with remarkable clarity. For a place like Marathon, where the relationship between land and sea defines nearly every aspect of life, this method offered an unusually revealing view of the built and natural environment.

Marathon itself occupies a strategic and evocative position in the Florida Keys, stretched across Key Vaca and neighboring islands between Florida Bay to the north and the Straits of Florida to the south. The map shows a settlement deeply oriented toward water: Boot Key Harbor, marine facilities, waterfront properties, channels, causeways, and shoreline roads structure the community as much as any inland street grid. Hawk Channel runs offshore, while East Sombrero Key and West Sombrero Key mark the seaward realm beyond the main inhabited keys. The mapped landscape is low, narrow, and exposed, emphasizing how delicately Marathon sits between sheltered bay waters and the open Atlantic.

The topographic character of the sheet is subtle but fascinating. Unlike mountain or river-valley maps, where contour lines dominate the drama, “Marathon” is a study in minute elevation, coastal edges, and aquatic space. Its blue and green palette clarifies the boundary between solid ground, shallow water, channels, and deeper marine environments, making the map as much a maritime document as a terrestrial one. The region’s low-lying nature is central to its identity, and the orthophoto treatment makes docks, roads, open lots, mangrove margins, and developed waterfronts readily legible. It is a cartographic record of a place where every foot of elevation and every cut through the shoreline matters.

Historically, the map stands at an important threshold for the Florida Keys. Created shortly after 1971, it records Marathon during a period when modern tourism, residential development, boating infrastructure, and road-connected island life were reshaping the archipelago. In retrospect, it also preserves evidence of shorelines and settlement patterns that have since been altered by intensified development, environmental regulation, hurricane impacts, and rising concern over climate change. The Florida Keys are now understood as one of America’s most vulnerable coastal regions, and this map offers a compelling baseline view of Marathon before many later transformations. Elegant, technical, and deeply place-specific, it is both a navigational image and a historical witness.

Cities, towns and places on this map

• Marathon
• Marathon Shores
• Boot Key
• Key Vaca
• Hawk Channel
• East Sombrero Key
• West Sombrero Key
• Florida Bay
• Straits of Florida
• Boot Key Harbor
• Numerous waterfront properties and marine facilities
• Roads and trails connecting various locations within Marathon

Historical context & cartographic details

• Produced by the United States Geological Survey (USGS)
• Created in 1971 and published in 1973
• Historical 1:24,000 scale topographical map
• Special orthophoto map format
• Shows the populated place of Marathon, Florida, and its surrounding area
• Uses survey data to present an extensive view of coastal features
• Displays land and marine environments in a vivid blue and green palette
• Depicts a low-lying coastal region with channels, waterfront properties, and natural features
• Color is used to enhance the visual understanding of elevation and water depth
• Reflects significant post-1971 developments in Marathon and the Florida Keys, including urbanization and environmental changes linked to development and climate 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.