Old Map of Burlington, Vermont by USGS, 1948 – Shelburne, Lake Champlain & Winooski River

Titled “Burlington,” this United States Geological Survey map presents one of Vermont’s most important urban landscapes with the precision and quiet elegance of mid-century American topographic cartography. Based on 1948 survey data and published with a 1967 imprint, it preserves Burlington and nearby Shelburne at a revealing historical moment, when postwar development was beginning to reshape the margins of older town centers. At a scale of 1:24,000, the map balances civic detail with landscape form: streets, railways, individual structures, shorelines, and institutional grounds are set within a carefully measured terrain of contours and waterways. Burlington, Vermont’s largest city, appears here not simply as a place of commerce and settlement, but as a city inseparable from Lake Champlain, the river corridors, and the surrounding uplands.

The map’s maker, the United States Geological Survey, brought to this sheet the disciplined visual language that made its topographic maps essential tools for engineers, planners, travelers, and scholars. Founded as a scientific agency of the U.S. government, the USGS became synonymous with systematic observation of the American landscape, translating field surveys into maps that were at once practical and historically durable. In this Burlington sheet, the agency’s characteristic clarity is on full display: contour lines describe the rise and fall of the terrain, water bodies are distinctly legible, and urbanized areas are differentiated from open land and vegetation. The result is a map that reads almost like a civic portrait, capturing both the built environment and the natural framework that shaped it.

Lake Champlain dominates the western edge of the mapped landscape, giving Burlington its geographic identity and much of its historical significance. The city’s position along the lake placed it within long traditions of transportation, trade, recreation, and military movement in the Champlain Valley. To the north and east, the Winooski River adds another defining feature, its course marking a natural corridor through the region and influencing settlement patterns around Burlington, Winooski, Colchester, and Essex. The map’s contouring makes clear how these waterways interact with the surrounding landforms, with subtle hills, valleys, and shore gradients all carefully articulated. Rather than presenting Vermont as merely picturesque, the sheet reveals the functional geography beneath its beauty: routes, slopes, drainage, and settlement all interwoven.

Burlington itself is rendered with notable density, showing the compact urban fabric of streets, houses, rail connections, and public institutions, including the University of Vermont. South Burlington appears in relation to the expanding metropolitan edge, while Shelburne to the south is shown as a quieter community connected by roads, open land, and lakeside proximity. The contrast between concentrated city blocks and the more spacious patterns of surrounding towns offers a valuable glimpse into mid-twentieth-century land use. Parks, wooded areas, and undeveloped tracts appear alongside transportation infrastructure, suggesting a region poised between rural Vermont and modern suburban growth. For collectors interested in urban history, this is a particularly evocative record of Burlington before later decades of expansion transformed its outskirts.

As a work of cartographic design, the Burlington sheet exemplifies the understated sophistication of USGS topographic mapping. Its structured line work is purposeful rather than ornamental, yet the interplay of contours, color, hydrography, and settlement symbols produces a richly textured image of place. Elevation lines give the land a sculptural quality, while the careful distinction between water, vegetation, roads, railways, and buildings allows the eye to move easily between natural and human systems. Historically, the map is valuable not only for what it shows, but for the moment it preserves: Burlington and Shelburne as they stood in the late 1940s, seen through the authoritative lens of federal survey science and later issued during an era of rapidly changing American landscapes.

Cities, towns and places on this map

• Burlington
• Shelburne
• Lake Champlain
• Winooski River
• South Burlington
• Essex
• Colchester
• The University of Vermont
• Parks
• Roads and railways
• Individual houses and urban infrastructure within Burlington
• Hills and valleys

Historical context & cartographic details

• Produced by the United States Geological Survey (USGS)
• Historical 1:24,000 topographical map of Burlington, Shelburne, and the surrounding area in Vermont
• Based on 1948 data and published with a 1967 imprint
• The USGS is a scientific agency of the U.S. government that provides information about the Earth, natural resources, and the environment
• Uses clear, structured line work to represent terrain
• Contour lines indicate elevation changes and variations in topography
• Distinct coloring is used to delineate urban areas, water bodies, vegetation, and urban structures
• Reflects the urban and environmental features of Burlington and Shelburne in the late 1940s
• Offers historical insight into development patterns, land use, and geographic change over time

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.