{"product_id":"old-map-of-durham-new-hampshire-by-usgs-1956-university-of-new-hampshire-oyster-river","title":"Old Map of Durham, New Hampshire by USGS, 1956 – University of New Hampshire \u0026 Oyster River","description":"\u003cp\u003ePublished in 1978 from a map dated 1956, the U.S. Geological Survey’s “Dover West” captures a richly detailed mid-century view of southeastern New Hampshire, centered on Durham and the landscape around the Oyster River. At 1:24,000 scale, it belongs to the USGS’s celebrated 7.5-minute topographic series, a format prized for its precision and local intimacy. Durham appears not merely as a town, but as a textured terrain of roads, waterways, wooded tracts, and settled ground, with the University of New Hampshire anchoring its civic identity. The map presents a moment when postwar New England was balancing rural continuity with expanding infrastructure, making it both a practical survey and a historical portrait.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe cartographic language is classic USGS: disciplined, lucid, and quietly elegant. Fine contour lines describe the rise and fall of the land, revealing the modest hills, shallow valleys, and glacially shaped undulations characteristic of the New Hampshire seacoast region. Greens mark wooded and vegetated areas, while lighter tones identify water features, creating a readable yet visually appealing composition. Roads, rail lines, streams, ponds, and built-up areas are arranged with the restrained authority that made Geological Survey maps indispensable to engineers, planners, hikers, and scientists. The result is a map that transforms a familiar local landscape into a precise graphic system of elevation, movement, settlement, and natural form.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDurham is the principal presence on the map, and its setting along the Oyster River gives the sheet much of its geographic character. The river’s branching course and associated lowlands trace the historic relationship between settlement, waterpower, agriculture, and transportation in this part of New Hampshire. Mill Pond evokes the region’s older industrial and milling traditions, while nearby roads and developed areas point toward the more modern identity of Durham as a university town. The University of New Hampshire, long central to the community’s growth, helped shape the area’s mid-century expansion, drawing students, faculty, and research activity into what had once been a quieter agrarian landscape.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBeyond Durham, the map extends into the surrounding towns and rural districts of Lee, Madbury, Barrington, and Dover, each contributing to the broader fabric of the Piscataqua-region interior. NH Route 4 and NH Route 155 appear as important corridors, tying farms, village centers, campuses, and commercial areas into a connected regional network. Smaller roads and paths thread through woods and fields, suggesting a landscape still defined by local movement and traditional land use. Pudding Hill, the Otter River, and other named features add an intimate vernacular geography, preserving place names that speak to older patterns of settlement and everyday orientation.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAs a historical document, “Dover West” offers a valuable baseline for understanding how this corner of New Hampshire looked in the mid-twentieth century. Its careful depiction of land cover, drainage, roads, and settlement patterns allows viewers to trace later changes in suburban growth, university expansion, transportation, and conservation. The map’s topographic detail also reveals the enduring physical framework beneath those changes: rivers still finding their courses, hills shaping routes, wetlands and ponds organizing the human footprint. Produced by the U.S. Geological Survey, it reflects the agency’s mission to make the American landscape measurable, legible, and enduringly knowable—an exacting portrait of Durham and its neighboring countryside at a pivotal moment in regional development.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eCities, towns and places on this map\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eDurham\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eLee\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eMadbury\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eBarrington\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eDover\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eOtter River\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eOyster River\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ePudding Hill\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eMill Pond\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eNH Route 4\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eNH Route 155\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eVarious trails and pathways\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eHistorical context \u0026amp; cartographic details\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eProduced by the U.S. Geological Survey.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHistorical 1:24,000 topographical map showing Durham, New Hampshire and its surroundings.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eDated 1956 with a 1978 imprint.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eFeatures Durham, a notable college town home to the University of New Hampshire.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eUses a clear color scheme, with greens indicating vegetation and lighter shades for water bodies.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eContour lines show elevation changes and provide a detailed representation of the terrain.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eDepicts hills, valleys, and water features characteristic of the New England landscape.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eOffers insight into the area’s mid-20th-century geography, infrastructure, urban development, and land use.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eLooking for a particular place?\u003c\/strong\u003e Review the detailed images to confirm that the town, landmark or feature you have in mind appears on the map. If you are unsure, \u003ca target=\"”_blank”\" href=\"\/it\/pages\/contact-us\"\u003eask our workshop to check before you order\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eDetailed 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.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis map looks amazing at sizes all the way up to 50in (125cm). If you are looking for a larger map, please \u003ca href=\"\/it\/pages\/contact-us\"\u003eget in touch\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe model in the listing images is holding the 16x20in (40x50cm) version of this map.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhere personalisation is available, you can add a short title or dedication, mark one meaningful place, or request one considered visual detail. \u003ca target=\"”_blank”\" href=\"\/it\/pages\/map-personalisation\"\u003eSee personalised map examples\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eEvery 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.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWith 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 \u003ca target=\"”_blank”\" href=\"\/it\/collections\/all-old-vintage-antique-maps\"\u003erare old and vintage maps\u003c\/a\u003e to discover another place, period or style.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"The Unique Maps Co.","offers":[{"title":"12x16in (30x40cm) \/ Map","offer_id":67887747924359,"sku":null,"price":358.0,"currency_code":"CNY","in_stock":true},{"title":"12x16in (30x40cm) \/ Framed map","offer_id":67887747957127,"sku":null,"price":963.0,"currency_code":"CNY","in_stock":true},{"title":"12x16in (30x40cm) \/ Framed canvas map","offer_id":67887747989895,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"CNY","in_stock":true},{"title":"A3 (297x420mm) \/ Map","offer_id":67887748022663,"sku":null,"price":358.0,"currency_code":"CNY","in_stock":true},{"title":"A3 (297x420mm) \/ Framed map","offer_id":67887748055431,"sku":null,"price":963.0,"currency_code":"CNY","in_stock":true},{"title":"A3 (297x420mm) \/ Framed canvas 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