The USGS quadrangle titled “Boothbay Harbor” presents one of Maine’s most storied coastal enclaves with the precision and quiet elegance characteristic of American topographic mapping. Dated 1970 and carrying a 1974 imprint, it records the Boothbay Harbor region at a moment when traditional maritime life, summer resort culture, and modern coastal development were all visibly shaping the landscape. At 1:24,000 scale, the map brings the intricate meeting of land and sea into sharp focus: peninsulas, coves, tidal passages, islands, roads, and settlement patterns are all arranged with scientific clarity. Light blue waters contrast with graduated greens across the land, allowing the eye to move easily from sheltered harbor to wooded upland, from village streets to the broken shoreline of Sheepscot Bay.

Produced by the United States Geological Survey, this map belongs to a cartographic tradition rooted in field observation, national measurement, and public science. Founded in 1879, the USGS became the principal authority for mapping the physical geography of the United States, and its quadrangles are prized for their combination of technical accuracy and visual restraint. Here, the agency’s disciplined style is especially well suited to the Boothbay coast, where every inlet, island, and contour line matters. The map’s topographical language—contours, color gradients, hydrographic markings, and cultural features—translates a complex maritime landscape into an intelligible system. It is at once a navigational portrait, a landform study, and a historical record of how the federal government understood and documented this stretch of coastal Maine.

Boothbay Harbor itself anchors the composition, surrounded by Boothbay, Southport, East Boothbay, Spruce Point, and Ocean Point, each place contributing to the region’s distinctive geography of harbors, necks, coves, and island communities. The waterways are central to the map’s character: Linekin Bay, Townsend Gut, The Gut, and the broader reaches of Sheepscot Bay form a lacework of tidal corridors leading toward the Atlantic Ocean. Offshore and nearshore islands—including Squirrel Island, Cedar Island, Swans Island, Little Island, and numerous smaller unnamed islets—give the map its archipelagic richness. Dogfish Head and other coastal points mark the jagged edge of the mainland, reminding the viewer that this is a landscape defined less by straight boundaries than by tide, granite, woodland, and sea.

The map’s design is especially compelling because it makes elevation and water equally legible. Lower land appears in pale green, deepening into darker tones where higher ground rises above the shore, while blue water unifies the harbors, bays, channels, and open ocean. Contour lines give subtle structure to the terrain, revealing the low but irregular relief typical of Maine’s midcoast, where glacially shaped landforms descend into deeply indented shorelines. The surrounding waters are rendered with hydrographic care, emphasizing the relationship between the settled coast and its maritime setting. Roads and paths thread through the towns and peninsulas, showing how movement over land complemented the older logic of travel by boat across narrow guts, bays, and island passages.

As a historical document, “Boothbay Harbor” preserves the geography of the early 1970s, before later decades of shoreline development, environmental regulation, changing tourism patterns, and infrastructure expansion further altered the region. The map offers a snapshot of settlement density, road networks, island access, and coastal land use during a period when Maine’s working waterfronts still stood in close conversation with summer colonies, recreational boating, and conservation-minded appreciation of the coast. Its value lies not only in what it names, but in what it fixes in time: the shape of communities, the outlines of coves, the distribution of roads, and the natural framework within which local history unfolded. For admirers of Maine, maritime landscapes, and American cartography, it is a remarkably evocative portrait of place.

Cities, towns and places on this map

• Boothbay Harbor
• Boothbay
• Southport
• East Boothbay
• Sheepscot Bay
• Atlantic Ocean
• Cedar Island
• Swans Island
• Spruce Point
• Little Island
• Squirrel Island
• Linekin Bay
• Townsend Gut
• Dogfish Head
• Ocean Point
• The Gut
• Annisquam River
• Multiple unnamed smaller islands
• Various roads and paths

Historical context & cartographic details

• Produced by the US Geological Survey as a historical 1:24,000 topographical map.
• Dated 1970, with a 1974 imprint.
• Published by the US Geological Survey, a U.S. government scientific agency known for mapping and geospatial data collection.
• Uses a color gradient to show elevation, with light green for lower elevations and darker green for higher ground.
• Water bodies are shown in light blue for clear identification of coastal and hydrographic features.
• Includes detailed topographical representation, with land contours and bathymetric information for surrounding waters.
• Reflects the geographical understanding of the area during the early 1970s.
• Serves as a historical document, as later development and environmental changes may have altered the landscape.

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.