Rare Old Map of Three Lakes, Wisconsin by USGS, 1938: Eagle, Catfish & Whitefish Lakes
Restored in our workshop from the original 1964 map and printed to museum-grade archival standards. Full description
The Collector’s Offer
Choose two eligible works and receive 25% off both. You can mix and match both maps and art.
No code is required. The offer is applied automatically.
Full terms and conditions
The Collector’s Offer applies to eligible works in standard made-to-order configurations. Bespoke sizes, personalised designs and commissioned work are excluded. Products with “personalised” or “custom” in their name are generally excluded.
The offer is administered as two separate automatic discounts: one for smaller formats and one for larger formats. To qualify, you must purchase two eligible works within the same format group. Maps and art prints may be mixed and matched within each group.
For example, two eligible A4 or 8 × 10 in prints qualify for 25% off both. One smaller-format print and one larger-format work do not qualify together, as items from different format groups cannot be combined to meet the two-item requirement.
No discount code is required. Any qualifying discount is applied automatically in your basket and at checkout.
The Collector’s Offer
Choose two eligible works and receive 25% off both. You can mix and match both maps and art.
No code is required. The offer is applied automatically.
Full terms and conditions
The Collector’s Offer applies to eligible works in standard made-to-order configurations. Bespoke sizes, personalised designs and commissioned work are excluded. Products with “personalised” or “custom” in their name are generally excluded.
The offer is administered as two separate automatic discounts: one for smaller formats and one for larger formats. To qualify, you must purchase two eligible works within the same format group. Maps and art prints may be mixed and matched within each group.
For example, two eligible A4 or 8 × 10 in prints qualify for 25% off both. One smaller-format print and one larger-format work do not qualify together, as items from different format groups cannot be combined to meet the two-item requirement.
No discount code is required. Any qualifying discount is applied automatically in your basket and at checkout.
Restored from the original 1964 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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Enjoy free standard delivery to anywhere in the world. Free delivery usually arrives in 3 business days. Express or and next-day options are available at the checkout.
Personalised pieces need time for design and proof approval before printing. More delivery info.
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Simply enter the recipient’s delivery address at checkout. Add a gift message in the order notes and we’ll print it on a branded card. We don’t include prices in the parcel.
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Standard orders can be returned or exchanged within 90 days of delivery. Personalised and custom-made pieces are generally excluded from change-of-mind returns. See our returns policy.
Arrives perfect—or we replace it
If your order arrives damaged, send us a few photos and we’ll arrange a replacement free of charge.
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Published in 1964 from 1938 survey work, the US Geological Survey’s “Three Lakes Quadrangle” presents a richly detailed view of one of...
Continue readingPublished in 1964 from 1938 survey work, the US Geological Survey’s “Three Lakes Quadrangle” presents a richly detailed view of one of northern Wisconsin’s most lake-studded landscapes. Centered on the community of Three Lakes, the map records a region where settlement, woodland, and water are inseparably intertwined. As a planimetric map, it emphasizes the precise horizontal placement of natural and human features—shorelines, roads, streams, buildings, and boundaries—rather than dramatic relief modeling. This gives the sheet a crisp, practical clarity, especially suited to a terrain defined less by mountains than by glacial basins, forest roads, and intricate chains of lakes. It is a historical snapshot of the area as understood in the late 1930s, later formalized for publication in the mid-twentieth century.
The US Geological Survey brought to this map the disciplined visual language that made its quadrangles indispensable to engineers, planners, foresters, travelers, and local authorities. Founded in 1879, the USGS became the nation’s great cartographic institution, translating field surveys into standardized maps that could be read consistently from Maine to California. In the “Three Lakes Quadrangle,” that institutional precision is applied to a landscape of remarkable complexity. Water bodies are cleanly distinguished from land, while roads, settlements, and forested tracts are arranged with a practical legibility that reflects the map’s navigational purpose. The result is both scientific and elegant: a carefully ordered depiction of a place where every lake, inlet, and rural route contributes to the character of the whole.
The map’s most striking feature is the abundance of water. Three Lakes lies amid a constellation of named lakes including Eagle Lake, Spirit Lake, Lower Ninemile Lake, Upper Ninemile Lake, Lovers Lake, Clearwater Lake, Catfish Lake, Squaw Lake, Deer Lake, Van Vliet Lake, Fish Lake, and Whitefish Lake, along with many smaller ponds and connecting waterways. This is classic Northwoods terrain, shaped by glacial action into a mosaic of basins, wetlands, low divides, and forest margins. The map captures the geography that made the region attractive for fishing, boating, timber work, seasonal cabins, and quiet resort development. Its careful delineation of shorelines is especially evocative, revealing how settlement patterns followed access to water and how each lake formed its own small world within the larger landscape.
Three Lakes itself appears not as an isolated town but as a hub within a broader recreational and ecological network. Roads and local routes thread between lakes, linking homesteads, camps, landings, and wooded parcels. The surrounding forests and natural reserves suggest a landscape still strongly defined by timber and wilderness, even as twentieth-century infrastructure reached deeper into the Wisconsin interior. The map belongs to a period when northern Wisconsin was transitioning from older extractive economies toward a more leisure-oriented identity, with lakeside tourism, fishing culture, and second homes becoming increasingly important. In that context, the quadrangle is more than a navigational document; it is evidence of a changing relationship between people and the Northwoods environment.
As a historical record, the “Three Lakes Quadrangle” is especially compelling because it preserves a prewar view of a landscape that has continued to evolve. Shoreline development, road improvements, conservation measures, changing forest cover, and ecological shifts may all have altered the region since the 1938 survey data was gathered. Yet the essential geography—the lake chains, forested corridors, and watery intricacy of the terrain—remains powerfully recognizable. The map invites comparison between past and present, showing how carefully measured cartography can become a form of cultural memory. For collectors, historians, and admirers of Wisconsin’s lake country, it offers a refined and information-rich portrait of Three Lakes at a pivotal moment in its modern history.
Cities, towns and places on this map
- Three Lakes
- Eagle Lake
- Spirit Lake
- Lower Ninemile Lake
- Upper Ninemile Lake
- Lovers Lake
- Clearwater Lake
- Catfish Lake
- Squaw Lake
- Deer Lake
- Van Vliet Lake
- Fish Lake
- Whitefish Lake
- Other unnamed smaller lakes and ponds
- Adjacent rivers and waterways
- Nearby forests and natural reserves
Historical context & cartographic details
- Published by the US Geological Survey (USGS).
- Created in 1938 and published in 1964.
- Planimetric map of the Three Lakes area in Wisconsin.
- Created using survey data, with a focus on precise land use and geographical detail.
- Shows the populated place of Three Lakes, Wisconsin, along with surrounding lakes, rivers, and waterways.
- Employs a typical topographical style with clear delineation between water bodies and land.
- Uses clear symbols and colors to represent geographic features and aid navigation.
- Provides detailed depiction of terrain, lakes, and forested areas.
- Captures the geographical features of the area as understood in the late 1930s.
- Offers historical insight into land use, development, and ecological conditions before later changes to 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 24x36in (60x90cm) 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 1964 from 1938 survey work, the US Geological Survey’s “Three Lakes Quadrangle” presents a richly detailed view of one of northern Wisconsin’s most lake-studded landscapes. Centered on the community of Three Lakes, the map records a region where settlement, woodland, and water are inseparably intertwined. As a planimetric map, it emphasizes the precise horizontal placement of natural and human features—shorelines, roads, streams, buildings, and boundaries—rather than dramatic relief modeling. This gives the sheet a crisp, practical clarity, especially suited to a terrain defined less by mountains than by glacial basins, forest roads, and intricate chains of lakes. It is a historical snapshot of the area as understood in the late 1930s, later formalized for publication in the mid-twentieth century.
The US Geological Survey brought to this map the disciplined visual language that made its quadrangles indispensable to engineers, planners, foresters, travelers, and local authorities. Founded in 1879, the USGS became the nation’s great cartographic institution, translating field surveys into standardized maps that could be read consistently from Maine to California. In the “Three Lakes Quadrangle,” that institutional precision is applied to a landscape of remarkable complexity. Water bodies are cleanly distinguished from land, while roads, settlements, and forested tracts are arranged with a practical legibility that reflects the map’s navigational purpose. The result is both scientific and elegant: a carefully ordered depiction of a place where every lake, inlet, and rural route contributes to the character of the whole.
The map’s most striking feature is the abundance of water. Three Lakes lies amid a constellation of named lakes including Eagle Lake, Spirit Lake, Lower Ninemile Lake, Upper Ninemile Lake, Lovers Lake, Clearwater Lake, Catfish Lake, Squaw Lake, Deer Lake, Van Vliet Lake, Fish Lake, and Whitefish Lake, along with many smaller ponds and connecting waterways. This is classic Northwoods terrain, shaped by glacial action into a mosaic of basins, wetlands, low divides, and forest margins. The map captures the geography that made the region attractive for fishing, boating, timber work, seasonal cabins, and quiet resort development. Its careful delineation of shorelines is especially evocative, revealing how settlement patterns followed access to water and how each lake formed its own small world within the larger landscape.
Three Lakes itself appears not as an isolated town but as a hub within a broader recreational and ecological network. Roads and local routes thread between lakes, linking homesteads, camps, landings, and wooded parcels. The surrounding forests and natural reserves suggest a landscape still strongly defined by timber and wilderness, even as twentieth-century infrastructure reached deeper into the Wisconsin interior. The map belongs to a period when northern Wisconsin was transitioning from older extractive economies toward a more leisure-oriented identity, with lakeside tourism, fishing culture, and second homes becoming increasingly important. In that context, the quadrangle is more than a navigational document; it is evidence of a changing relationship between people and the Northwoods environment.
As a historical record, the “Three Lakes Quadrangle” is especially compelling because it preserves a prewar view of a landscape that has continued to evolve. Shoreline development, road improvements, conservation measures, changing forest cover, and ecological shifts may all have altered the region since the 1938 survey data was gathered. Yet the essential geography—the lake chains, forested corridors, and watery intricacy of the terrain—remains powerfully recognizable. The map invites comparison between past and present, showing how carefully measured cartography can become a form of cultural memory. For collectors, historians, and admirers of Wisconsin’s lake country, it offers a refined and information-rich portrait of Three Lakes at a pivotal moment in its modern history.
Cities, towns and places on this map
- Three Lakes
- Eagle Lake
- Spirit Lake
- Lower Ninemile Lake
- Upper Ninemile Lake
- Lovers Lake
- Clearwater Lake
- Catfish Lake
- Squaw Lake
- Deer Lake
- Van Vliet Lake
- Fish Lake
- Whitefish Lake
- Other unnamed smaller lakes and ponds
- Adjacent rivers and waterways
- Nearby forests and natural reserves
Historical context & cartographic details
- Published by the US Geological Survey (USGS).
- Created in 1938 and published in 1964.
- Planimetric map of the Three Lakes area in Wisconsin.
- Created using survey data, with a focus on precise land use and geographical detail.
- Shows the populated place of Three Lakes, Wisconsin, along with surrounding lakes, rivers, and waterways.
- Employs a typical topographical style with clear delineation between water bodies and land.
- Uses clear symbols and colors to represent geographic features and aid navigation.
- Provides detailed depiction of terrain, lakes, and forested areas.
- Captures the geographical features of the area as understood in the late 1930s.
- Offers historical insight into land use, development, and ecological conditions before later changes to 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 24x36in (60x90cm) 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 24 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 24 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.
We work with interior designers, hospitality businesses, property professionals, offices and corporate buyers on individual pieces and larger coordinated projects.
This map can be adapted for a particular wall, room or project, and our workshop can help coordinate the dimensions, material and framing before production.
- Exact, oversized and made-to-measure dimensions
- Custom framing, mounting and alternative materials
- Coordinated pieces for several rooms or locations
- Map personalisation, to mark important locations or add extra details
- Map and framing guidance from our workshop
- Local production for projects around the world
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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