Published in 1972 from a map dated 1970, the original title, “Guthrie North,” identifies this as a finely detailed US Geological Survey 1:24,000 topographical portrait of central Oklahoma. Centered on Guthrie and its surrounding countryside, the map captures the city and its northern approaches at a moment when rural infrastructure, transportation corridors, and postwar development patterns were reshaping the landscape. Its scale allows roads, railways, waterways, contours, and scattered rural landmarks to be read together as a richly layered record of place. For collectors, it offers more than orientation: it preserves the geography of Logan County as understood by federal cartographers in the early 1970s, combining scientific precision with the quiet elegance of classic American topographic design.

The US Geological Survey had, by this period, perfected a cartographic language that remains instantly recognizable: green for wooded or vegetated areas, blue for streams and water features, fine brown contour lines for relief, and crisp black and red linework for buildings, roads, boundaries, and surveyed details. “Guthrie North” exemplifies that disciplined visual system, presenting a dense amount of information with remarkable clarity. The grid overlay gives the sheet its technical authority, supporting navigation, land measurement, and field use, while the contours reveal the subtle undulations of Oklahoma’s rolling terrain. Every line serves a purpose, yet the cumulative effect is unexpectedly beautiful: a calm, ordered abstraction of farms, waterways, roads, and settlement patterns.

Guthrie itself lends the map particular historical resonance. Founded during the Land Run of 1889, the city rapidly became one of the great symbols of Oklahoma’s territorial era and served as the territorial capital before state government moved to Oklahoma City. By 1970, Guthrie retained its distinctive historic character while functioning within a modern network of highways, rail links, rural roads, and surrounding agricultural communities. This map records that layered identity: a town with nineteenth-century origins embedded in a twentieth-century landscape of transportation, land division, and regional planning. For anyone interested in Oklahoma history, it is a compelling geographic document, showing how an important frontier-era city sat within its broader rural and infrastructural setting.

The surrounding countryside is one of the map’s most evocative features. Contour lines trace the low ridges, shallow valleys, and gentle slopes typical of central Oklahoma, where the land rises and falls in measured increments rather than dramatic peaks. Watercourses and drainage patterns, associated with the larger Cimarron and Canadian river systems of the region, give structure to the terrain and help explain the placement of roads, crossings, farms, and settlements. Such details reveal the practical intelligence embedded in topographic mapping: landscape is not merely depicted, but interpreted. The viewer can follow how creeks cut through the land, how routes respond to elevation, and how human occupation adapts to natural form.

As a historical object, “Guthrie North” offers a precise snapshot of environmental and civic geography at the dawn of the 1970s. It shows the relationship between Guthrie, its rural margins, local routes, railways, open land, and natural features before later decades of expansion and alteration. The map’s appeal lies in this tension between permanence and change: contours and riverbeds suggest deep time, while roads, buildings, and boundaries mark the decisions of a particular era. Produced by one of America’s most respected scientific agencies, it embodies the USGS tradition of accuracy, restraint, and quiet sophistication. For collectors of Oklahoma, Americana, or technical cartography, it is an elegant record of place, history, and landscape.

Cities, towns and places on this map

• Guthrie
• Cimarron River
• Canadian River
• Various contour lines and elevations
• Surrounding rural areas and roads
• Adjacent towns and communities
• Local parks or natural reserves
• Roadways and railways connecting the towns
• Potential historic sites or landmarks characteristic of Guthrie’s past

Historical context & cartographic details

• Produced by the US Geological Survey, this historical 1:24,000 topographical map shows Guthrie, Oklahoma, and the surrounding area.
• The map is dated 1970 and carries a 1972 imprint.
• The USGS is known for reliable scientific mapping and cartographic work across the United States.
• Guthrie, Oklahoma, is the main populated area represented.
• The map uses a typical USGS topographic color scheme, with green tones for vegetation, blue for water features, and contour lines for elevation changes.
• A clear grid overlay supports navigation and reflects the map’s high level of detail.
• The map shows rolling Oklahoma terrain, river systems, roads, railways, and natural features.
• It reflects the geographical and infrastructural development of the Guthrie area in the early 1970s.
• It provides a historical snapshot of environmental and urban planning that may have changed since publication.

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.