Titled “Calabash,” this 1953 U.S. Geological Survey topographic map presents a finely observed portrait of the coastal borderlands around Sunset Beach, North Carolina, at the 1:24,000 scale. Created by the USGS, the federal agency whose quadrangle maps became the authoritative language of American landscape, it records the area with scientific precision and understated elegance. The sheet captures a coastal world still defined more by rivers, marshes, roads, and settlement names than by resort development. Sunset Beach, Calabash, Ocean Isle Beach, Shallotte, and Little River appear within a wider matrix of waterways, lowlands, and sandy coastal margins, making the map both a navigational document and a historical snapshot of a place on the cusp of transformation.

The cartographic style is classic mid-century USGS: disciplined, legible, and rich in environmental information. Contour lines describe the modest but important variations in elevation across a low coastal plain, while blues delineate the Intracoastal Waterway, tidal creeks, river channels, and open water. Greens and marsh symbols distinguish wetland zones, swamps, and vegetated terrain, revealing how profoundly water shaped travel, settlement, and land use in this part of Brunswick County and the nearby South Carolina border region. Rather than dramatizing the landscape, the map allows its complexity to emerge through measured detail—roads, pathways, benchmarks, shorelines, and drainage patterns forming a precise visual grammar of the coastal Carolinas.

Sunset Beach is one of the map’s most evocative features, shown in an era before its later growth into a celebrated seaside community. The barrier-island setting, nearby marshes, and the linear presence of the Intracoastal Waterway all speak to the delicate geography that made this stretch of coast both beautiful and vulnerable. Ocean Isle Beach and the surrounding coastal strands suggest the early framework of communities that would later become important destinations along North Carolina’s southern shore. The map preserves the region before widespread subdivision, bridges, and dense seasonal development dramatically altered the relationship between beach, mainland, and marsh.

Inland and along the waterways, the map reveals another layer of coastal life. Calabash, now widely associated with seafood and maritime culture, appears as part of a larger network of small communities tied to creeks, roads, and the nearby Little River area. Shallotte, the Lockwood Folly River, Stafford Bay, Coles Swamp, and the Waccamaw River system situate the map within a broader hydrological landscape of blackwater streams, wetlands, and estuarine corridors. These names carry the history of Native, colonial, agricultural, and maritime use, while the mapped roads and pathways show how movement through the region depended on negotiating waterlogged ground and modest rises in terrain.

As a historical document, “Calabash” is especially compelling because it records the southeastern North Carolina coast before the accelerating postwar reshaping of shoreline communities. In 1953, the area’s geography was still legible in older patterns: dispersed settlements, working waterways, forested tracts, and extensive marshlands. Today, comparison with modern maps highlights profound changes in land use, population density, transportation, and coastal development. Yet the fundamental landscape remains visible here—the rivers, swamps, tidal flats, barrier beaches, and low relief that continue to define the region. For collectors, historians, and admirers of coastal cartography, this map offers a beautifully detailed view of a beloved shoreline at a pivotal moment in its modern history.

Cities, towns and places on this map

• Sunset Beach
• Calabash
• Shallotte
• Little River
• Ocean Isle Beach
• Waccamaw River
• Lockwood Folly River
• Intracoastal Waterway
• Stafford Bay
• Coles Swamp
• Marshes and wetlands near the coast
• Various contours and elevation markers
• Roads and pathways visible on the map

Historical context & cartographic details

• Produced by the U.S. Geological Survey as a historical 1:24,000 topographical map.
• Dated 1953, with no separate imprint year specified.
• Published by the U.S. Geological Survey, a scientific agency of the United States government known for authoritative topographic mapping.
• Uses a color-coded cartographic scheme to represent elevation and land types.
• Shows contours and waterways in varying shades of green and blue.
• Illustrates the region’s coastal terrain, including elevation changes, marshes, and shoreline features.
• Represents a historical snapshot of the area before extensive modern development.
• Useful for comparing earlier land use and population density with present-day conditions.

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 18x24in (45x60cm) 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.