Rare Old Map of Hanover, New Hampshire by USGS, 1908: Dartmouth College, Quechee & Connecticut River
Restored in our London workshop from the original 1924 map and printed to museum-grade archival standards. Full description
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Choose two eligible works and receive 20% off both. Choose three and the lowest-priced one is complimentary, a maximum saving of 33%.
Mix and match eligible standard maps and fine-art prints. No code is required; the offer is applied automatically at checkout.
Standard made-to-order configurations are included. Bespoke sizes, personalised designs and commissioned work are excluded.
Need delivery to different addresses? Contact us before ordering.The Collector’s Offer
Choose two eligible works and receive 20% off both. Choose three and the lowest-priced one is complimentary, a maximum saving of 33%.
Mix and match eligible standard maps and fine-art prints. No code is required; the offer is applied automatically at checkout.
Standard made-to-order configurations are included. Bespoke sizes, personalised designs and commissioned work are excluded.
Need delivery to different addresses? Contact us before ordering.
Restored from the original 1924 map and printed to museum-grade archival standards. Full description
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Gift message & custom finish
If you want to add a gift message, or a finish (jigsaw, aluminium board, etc.) that is not available here, please request it in the "order note" when you check out.
Every order is custom made, so if you need the size adjusted slightly, or printed on an unusual material, just let us know. We've done thousands of custom orders over the years, so there's (almost) nothing we can't manage.
You can also contact us before you order, if you prefer!
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Published in 1924 from survey work dated 1908, the US Geological Survey’s “Hanover” presents the upper Connecticut River valley at a revealing...
Continue readingPublished in 1924 from survey work dated 1908, the US Geological Survey’s “Hanover” presents the upper Connecticut River valley at a revealing 1:62,500 scale. Centered on Hanover, New Hampshire, and extending westward into Vermont around Quechee, Hartford, Plainfield, West Hartford, and Hartland, the map captures a landscape defined by river corridors, steep hillsides, rural roads, and clustered settlements. Its original title is spare and authoritative, typical of USGS quadrangles, yet the sheet itself is rich with early twentieth-century detail. The Connecticut River forms the great organizing feature, separating New Hampshire and Vermont while binding together a region shaped by agriculture, education, transport, and hill-country settlement.
The map was produced by the United States Geological Survey, an institution founded in 1879 to classify, measure, and make legible the nation’s physical resources. By the early twentieth century, USGS topographical mapping had become one of the most ambitious scientific and civic projects in American cartography, offering standardized depictions of terrain, drainage, roads, and habitation across the country. The “Hanover” sheet belongs to this tradition of practical elegance: precise, restrained, and deeply informative. Its use of contour lines and selective color gives the terrain an almost sculptural clarity, allowing the viewer to read the rise and fall of hills, the sweep of valleys, and the pathways by which people moved through this New England landscape.
Hanover itself carries particular historical resonance, chiefly as the home of Dartmouth College, founded in the eighteenth century and long central to the cultural life of the Upper Valley. On this map, the town is not isolated as an academic enclave but integrated into a broader geographical system of rivers, roads, farms, and neighboring communities. Nearby Lebanon appears as another important New Hampshire settlement, while across the Connecticut River the Vermont towns of Hartford, Quechee, Hartland, Plainfield, and West Hartford reveal a closely linked regional network. The map quietly records a world before modern highways and suburban expansion had reshaped movement, when local roads, river crossings, and valley routes defined everyday geography.
The topographic character of the sheet is especially compelling. Densely packed contour lines mark the steeper terrain rising from the Connecticut River and Mascoma River valleys, while broader spaces between contours suggest gentler slopes, terraces, and settled lowlands. Mount Tom and the surrounding hills give the map a dramatic vertical rhythm, emphasizing how strongly relief influenced settlement and travel. Roads bend with the land, riverbanks guide movement, and villages occupy practical sites near water and more forgiving ground. The colored cartographic language helps distinguish waterways, contours, and human infrastructure, making the map not only a technical document but also a beautifully ordered portrait of terrain.
As a historical document, “Hanover” offers a valuable glimpse of land use and settlement patterns in the early twentieth-century Upper Valley. It records a moment when agriculture, small-town industry, riverine geography, and institutional life coexisted in a landscape still largely governed by natural form. Since 1908, many of these places have seen growth, conservation, reforestation, and changing patterns of transportation, making the map a point of comparison between past and present. Its careful depiction of roads, waterways, valleys, and hills preserves a regional geography at once familiar and transformed. For collectors, historians, and admirers of New England, it is an evocative study of place, terrain, and time.
Cities, towns and places on this map
- Hanover, New Hampshire
- Quechee, Vermont
- Hartford, Vermont
- Plainfield, Vermont
- West Hartford, Vermont
- Hartland, Vermont
- Lebanon, New Hampshire
- Connecticut River
- Mascoma River
- Mount Tom
- Various unnamed hills
- Roads
- Trails
Historical context & cartographic details
- Historical 1:62,500 topographical map titled Hanover
- Dated 1908 with a 1924 imprint
- Produced by the US Geological Survey
- The US Geological Survey was founded in 1879 and played a major role in making geographic information publicly accessible
- Shows the surrounding Upper Valley landscape, including valleys, hills, and river corridors
- Hanover is historically associated with Dartmouth College
- Uses contour lines to represent elevation changes
- Color is used to help visualize topography
- Displays significant elevation variation, especially around the Connecticut River valley
- Provides insight into early 20th-century land use and settlement patterns
- Records a landscape that has since seen development, conservation, and changing patterns of use
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.
Published in 1924 from survey work dated 1908, the US Geological Survey’s “Hanover” presents the upper Connecticut River valley at a revealing 1:62,500 scale. Centered on Hanover, New Hampshire, and extending westward into Vermont around Quechee, Hartford, Plainfield, West Hartford, and Hartland, the map captures a landscape defined by river corridors, steep hillsides, rural roads, and clustered settlements. Its original title is spare and authoritative, typical of USGS quadrangles, yet the sheet itself is rich with early twentieth-century detail. The Connecticut River forms the great organizing feature, separating New Hampshire and Vermont while binding together a region shaped by agriculture, education, transport, and hill-country settlement.
The map was produced by the United States Geological Survey, an institution founded in 1879 to classify, measure, and make legible the nation’s physical resources. By the early twentieth century, USGS topographical mapping had become one of the most ambitious scientific and civic projects in American cartography, offering standardized depictions of terrain, drainage, roads, and habitation across the country. The “Hanover” sheet belongs to this tradition of practical elegance: precise, restrained, and deeply informative. Its use of contour lines and selective color gives the terrain an almost sculptural clarity, allowing the viewer to read the rise and fall of hills, the sweep of valleys, and the pathways by which people moved through this New England landscape.
Hanover itself carries particular historical resonance, chiefly as the home of Dartmouth College, founded in the eighteenth century and long central to the cultural life of the Upper Valley. On this map, the town is not isolated as an academic enclave but integrated into a broader geographical system of rivers, roads, farms, and neighboring communities. Nearby Lebanon appears as another important New Hampshire settlement, while across the Connecticut River the Vermont towns of Hartford, Quechee, Hartland, Plainfield, and West Hartford reveal a closely linked regional network. The map quietly records a world before modern highways and suburban expansion had reshaped movement, when local roads, river crossings, and valley routes defined everyday geography.
The topographic character of the sheet is especially compelling. Densely packed contour lines mark the steeper terrain rising from the Connecticut River and Mascoma River valleys, while broader spaces between contours suggest gentler slopes, terraces, and settled lowlands. Mount Tom and the surrounding hills give the map a dramatic vertical rhythm, emphasizing how strongly relief influenced settlement and travel. Roads bend with the land, riverbanks guide movement, and villages occupy practical sites near water and more forgiving ground. The colored cartographic language helps distinguish waterways, contours, and human infrastructure, making the map not only a technical document but also a beautifully ordered portrait of terrain.
As a historical document, “Hanover” offers a valuable glimpse of land use and settlement patterns in the early twentieth-century Upper Valley. It records a moment when agriculture, small-town industry, riverine geography, and institutional life coexisted in a landscape still largely governed by natural form. Since 1908, many of these places have seen growth, conservation, reforestation, and changing patterns of transportation, making the map a point of comparison between past and present. Its careful depiction of roads, waterways, valleys, and hills preserves a regional geography at once familiar and transformed. For collectors, historians, and admirers of New England, it is an evocative study of place, terrain, and time.
Cities, towns and places on this map
- Hanover, New Hampshire
- Quechee, Vermont
- Hartford, Vermont
- Plainfield, Vermont
- West Hartford, Vermont
- Hartland, Vermont
- Lebanon, New Hampshire
- Connecticut River
- Mascoma River
- Mount Tom
- Various unnamed hills
- Roads
- Trails
Historical context & cartographic details
- Historical 1:62,500 topographical map titled Hanover
- Dated 1908 with a 1924 imprint
- Produced by the US Geological Survey
- The US Geological Survey was founded in 1879 and played a major role in making geographic information publicly accessible
- Shows the surrounding Upper Valley landscape, including valleys, hills, and river corridors
- Hanover is historically associated with Dartmouth College
- Uses contour lines to represent elevation changes
- Color is used to help visualize topography
- Displays significant elevation variation, especially around the Connecticut River valley
- Provides insight into early 20th-century land use and settlement patterns
- Records a landscape that has since seen development, conservation, and changing patterns of use
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.
Many of our maps and art prints are chosen as thoughtful gifts for homes, offices, studies and meaningful places.
Choose a framed option for the easiest ready-to-hang gift, or choose an unframed print if the recipient may prefer to select their own frame.
We make orders locally in 23 countries around the world, so gifts can often be produced close to the recipient. This helps them arrive faster, travel more safely, and avoid customs or import duty surprises.
- We can deliver directly to the recipient
- Framed pieces arrive ready to hang
- Unframed prints are carefully packed in a strong protective tube
- Almost every order is made locally, for faster, safer gifting
- 90-day returns give the recipient time to decide
If you are not sure what to choose, please contact us. We can help you pick the right map, size, finish or delivery option.
Most orders are made locally and delivered in around 2–3 working days, depending on the product, size and destination.
We print and frame maps and artwork in 23 countries around the world, so your order is usually made close to you or your recipient. That means faster delivery, less time in transit, and no customs or import duty surprises.
Personalised and customised pieces usually take an extra 1–2 working days, because we prepare your design and send it to you for approval before printing.
Very large framed orders can take a little longer, as they need extra care in production and delivery.
Every order is carefully packaged: unframed prints are sent in a strong protective tube, while framed pieces are securely packed with protective materials around the frame.
If you need your order by a particular date, please contact us before ordering. We’ll check the best production route and delivery option for your location.
Express delivery is available at checkout for most countries. Next-day delivery is available in the UK, US, Singapore and the UAE.
Your order is covered by our 90-day returns policy and 10-year guarantee.
Our standard frame is a gallery-style black ash hardwood frame, with a simple, modern look. It is approximately 20mm (0.8in) wide. You can also view some lovely customer photos of framed maps and art.
We use super-clear acrylic glazing, also known as Perspex or Acrylite, instead of traditional glass. It is lighter, safer, and has lower reflectivity, giving the artwork a clearer, cleaner appearance.
Six standard frame colours are available at no extra cost: black, dark brown, dark grey, oak, white, and antique gold. Custom framing and mounting/matting is also available for customers looking for something more specific.
Most maps, art prints, and illustrations are also available as a framed canvas. We use matte cotton canvas, stretch it over a sustainably sourced wooden box frame, and then float the piece within a wooden outer frame. The finished result is beautifully presented, with no glazing between you and the artwork.
All frames are supplied ready to hang, with either string or brackets fitted to the back. Very large frames will include heavy-duty hanging plates and/or a mounting baton. If you have any questions, please get in touch.
We can also supply old maps and artwork on canvas, foam board, cotton rag, and other materials.
If you would prefer to frame your map or artwork yourself, please read our size guide before ordering.
Every Unique Maps piece begins with an authentic cartographic source or an original design from our London studio.
For our historic maps, we source rare originals from libraries, archives, auction houses and private collections around the world. We carefully restore each map for print—repairing age-related damage, balancing colour and improving clarity while preserving its original detail, texture and character.
Once restored, the map is prepared for your chosen size and finish. Your piece is then printed and, where selected, framed close to its delivery destination.
Our map prints use acid-free 200gsm archival matte paper and fade-resistant pigment inks, creating a rich, non-glossy finish designed to last. Framed maps use crystal-clear optical acrylic and arrive ready to hang.
Canvas, cotton-rag and other specialist presentations are also available. Learn more about our materials and finishes.
Personalising your map
You can add a short title or dedication, mark one meaningful place, or request one considered visual detail. For personalised designs, we send a proof before printing and you can request changes before approval.
For more complex bespoke commissions, contact our design team.
Original or Aged
Choose Original for true-to-source colour, or Aged for a warmer, richer antique character created with our specialist ageing process. See examples of our Aged maps.
We’ve been restoring and producing maps and art prints since 1984, and we stand behind every piece.
Every order is covered by our 10-year guarantee and damage-free delivery guarantee. If your piece arrives damaged, we’ll replace or remake it free of charge. If anything else isn’t right, contact our workshop team and we’ll put it right promptly.
See our returns and refund policy for full details.
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