Published in 1965 from 1963 US Geological Survey work, the topographical map titled “La Crosse” presents one of the Upper Mississippi’s most dramatic river landscapes at a scale of 1:62,500. Centered on La Crosse, Wisconsin, it captures the city at a moment when mid-century infrastructure, medical institutions, rail lines, and expanding neighborhoods were reshaping its relationship with the surrounding bluffs and river bottoms. The map’s disciplined USGS design uses color, contour, and precise labeling to distinguish urban development, wooded slopes, agricultural land, water bodies, and transportation corridors. As both a technical document and a historical portrait, it records the geography of La Crosse before later suburban growth fully transformed the edges of Onalaska, Holmen, and West Salem.

The defining drama of the map is the meeting of water and elevation. The Mississippi River forms the great western axis of the sheet, its channels, islands, marshes, and backwaters spread across the broad floodplain. Nearby, the Black River enters this intricate aquatic landscape, while Lake Onalaska widens the scene into a luminous expanse of water and wetland. Against these lowlands, contour lines rise sharply into the coulee country of western Wisconsin, making the bluffs, valleys, and ridgelines legible with remarkable clarity. Elevation markers and shaded relief emphasize the abrupt transition from river bottom to upland, revealing why the La Crosse region has long been prized for its scenic overlooks, strategic crossings, and distinctive terrain.

La Crosse itself appears as a compact but growing regional center, set between the Mississippi and the steep eastern bluffs. The map records the city’s street grid, neighborhoods, rail approaches, riverfront industry, and important civic landmarks, including Gundersen Lutheran Medical Center, reflecting its role as a medical and commercial hub. Onalaska and Holmen to the north, and West Salem to the east, are shown as smaller communities connected by roads, railways, and the natural corridors shaped by river valleys. These details give the map an appealing documentary quality: it shows not only where people lived and traveled in the early 1960s, but also how settlement adapted to the constraints of water, slope, and fertile low ground.

The US Geological Survey’s cartographic language is especially effective here. Fine contour intervals trace every ridge nose and ravine, while color separates forested uplands from open farmland and developed areas. Roads, railways, streams, lakes, and public lands are layered with the clarity that made USGS topographic maps indispensable to engineers, planners, hikers, and geographers. In the La Crosse sheet, this precision becomes almost pictorial: the Mississippi’s sinuous complexity contrasts with the rectilinear order of streets and fields, while the wooded coulees break the landscape into a rhythm of shadowed valleys and high, narrow divides. The result is a map that is practical, elegant, and unusually expressive of place.

Historically, the map preserves La Crosse and its surroundings during a pivotal postwar decade. The region’s older river and rail economy remained visible, yet expanding highways, medical facilities, suburban neighborhoods, and recreational landscapes hinted at the future. Corridors now associated with regional trails, including the Great River State Trail, can be understood through the transportation geography shown here, especially the rail and river routes that structured movement through the valley. Parks, wooded tracts, and forested blufflands underscore the area’s enduring environmental richness, while the agricultural hinterland surrounding West Salem and Holmen speaks to its rural foundations. As a mid-century topographical record, “La Crosse” offers a finely detailed view of a landscape where commerce, settlement, and natural grandeur meet.

Cities, towns and places on this map

• La Crosse, Wisconsin
• West Salem
• Onalaska
• Holmen
• Gunderson Lutheran Medical Center
• Mississippi River
• Black River
• Lake Onalaska
• Lake Wisconsin
• Great River State Trail
• Several parks and forested areas in the vicinity
• Major roads and railways connecting to surrounding areas
• City neighborhoods

Historical context & cartographic details

• Produced by the US Geological Survey
• Created in 1963 and published in 1965
• Topographical map at a scale of 1:62,500
• Features La Crosse, Wisconsin, and surrounding areas with survey data and topographical detail
• Uses color to distinguish wooded areas, agricultural land, urban development, and other land features
• Includes contour lines, elevation markers, and shaded relief to show changes in terrain
• Represents hills, valleys, rivers, lakes, and other water bodies in detail
• Reflects the geographical and infrastructural state of La Crosse and its surroundings during the 1960s
• Highlights mid-20th-century urban and rural development patterns in the 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.