Published with a 1957 imprint from 1956 mapping, the USGS quadrangle titled “Dundee” captures a richly detailed portion of Oregon’s Willamette Valley at the intimate 1:24,000 scale. Centered on the town of Dundee and its surrounding countryside, the map presents a landscape still largely rural, before the full rise of the vineyard economy and suburban expansion that would later define the area. Roads, streams, wooded slopes, farm tracts, and settlement patterns appear with the restrained precision characteristic of mid-century American topographic mapping. Highway 99W threads through the region as a key transportation artery, linking Dundee with nearby Newberg and the broader valley. As a historical document, the map preserves a moment when this now-celebrated wine country retained the quiet geometry of orchards, fields, and wooded hills.

The United States Geological Survey, established in the nineteenth century to study the nation’s lands, waters, minerals, and hazards, brought a scientific rigor to maps such as this. By the 1950s, USGS quadrangles had become indispensable tools for engineers, planners, hikers, land managers, and local governments, combining field survey, aerial photography, and standardized cartographic design. The “Dundee” sheet reflects that institutional ambition: to make the American landscape legible in fine detail. Its contour lines translate the terrain into measured intervals, while symbols for roads, buildings, waterways, vegetation, and boundaries create a disciplined visual language. The result is not merely a navigational aid, but a portrait of place, shaped by federal science and the postwar drive to inventory, understand, and develop the country’s varied regions.

Topographically, the map is especially compelling for the way it renders the rolling edge of the Willamette Valley. Chehalem Mountain rises near the mapped area, its slopes and ridgelines expressed through tightly spaced contours that contrast with the softer valley floor. The cartography reveals the subtle drama of western Oregon: low hills, drainage channels, forested patches, and agricultural lands interwoven across a fertile basin. Watercourses such as the Tualatin River, Sain Creek, and Little River help define the terrain, their channels indicating both natural movement and the agricultural promise of the region. Varying shades of green, used to denote vegetation and elevation character, give the map a vivid clarity, allowing the eye to distinguish wooded uplands from cultivated lowlands and settlement corridors.

Dundee’s modern fame rests heavily on viticulture, and this map offers a fascinating glimpse of the region before that identity had fully matured. Today, the Dundee Hills are among Oregon’s most admired wine landscapes, celebrated for Pinot Noir and for scenic vineyard slopes overlooking the Willamette Valley. In this 1950s view, however, the area appears as a quieter rural district, with roads, farms, wooded hillsides, and small communities defining the human geography. Nearby Newberg, Dayton, McMinnville, and Forest Grove situate Dundee within a wider network of valley towns, each connected by roads and shaped by waterways and agricultural land. The map therefore records the foundations of a landscape that would later become internationally recognized, preserving the pre-expansion terrain beneath today’s vineyards and tasting rooms.

The design of the map exemplifies the visual authority of USGS topographic work: clean typography, bold contrasts, precise linework, and a careful hierarchy of symbols. Contour lines are the defining feature, transforming elevation into an elegant pattern of curves, loops, and compressed bands that reveal hills, depressions, and valley gradients at a glance. Roads and trails, including the important route of Highway 99W, organize the inhabited landscape, while streams and forested areas soften the grid of settlement with natural forms. For collectors and historians, the sheet’s appeal lies in this union of beauty and utility. It is both a scientific record and an evocative regional portrait, showing Dundee and its surroundings at a pivotal moment before the landscape’s later transformation into one of Oregon’s signature wine regions.

Cities, towns and places on this map

• Dundee
• Chehalem Mountain
• Tualatin River
• McMinnville
• Newberg
• Willamette Valley
• Sain Creek
• Little River
• Dayton
• Forest Grove
• Forested areas
• Vineyards
• Various roads and trails, including Highway 99W

Historical context & cartographic details

• Historical 1:24,000 topographical map of Dundee, Oregon, and its surroundings
• Created in 1956 with a 1957 imprint
• Produced by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)
• The USGS is a scientific agency of the U.S. government with a long history of mapping American landscapes and studying natural resources and hazards
• Features bold color contrasts and varying shades of green to represent elevation and vegetation
• Includes detailed contour lines showing hills, valleys, and elevation changes typical of the region
• Reflects the Dundee landscape before later urban expansion and major vineyard growth
• Shows a more rural mid-20th-century view of the Willamette Valley region

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.