Old Map of Hot Springs, Arkansas by USGS, 1966 – Lake Hamilton, Lake Catherine & Ouachita Mountains

“Hot Springs North” captures one of Arkansas’s most storied landscapes at a precise mid-century moment: surveyed in 1966 and published in 1967 by the United States Geological Survey. At the detailed 1:24,000 scale, the map presents Hot Springs and its northern surroundings with the clarity and authority that made USGS quadrangles indispensable to engineers, planners, hikers, historians, and collectors. The visual language is immediately appealing: bright green distinguishes wooded and vegetated areas, red marks the urban fabric, and fine brown contour lines reveal the rise and fall of the land. Together, these elements transform the famous “Spa City” from a destination associated with bathhouses and leisure into a richly structured terrain of ridges, valleys, roads, water, and settlement.

The United States Geological Survey, founded in 1879, brought a scientific rigor to American mapping that profoundly shaped how the nation understood its own geography. This map belongs to the USGS tradition of standardized, highly legible topographic quadrangles, created to document both natural landforms and human development with remarkable precision. Rather than emphasizing decoration, the design derives its beauty from accuracy: measured contours, carefully classified roads, streams, lakes, forests, and place names all arranged in a disciplined cartographic system. In “Hot Springs North,” that system is especially effective because the landscape is so varied. The mapmaker’s work reveals not merely where Hot Springs lies, but how the city is fitted into the folds and corridors of the Ouachita Mountains.

Hot Springs, Arkansas, has long owed its identity to the natural thermal waters that emerge from the slopes above the city. Indigenous peoples knew the springs for centuries, and by the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries the area had become one of America’s celebrated health and resort destinations. The city’s bathhouse culture gave rise to its enduring nickname, “Spa City,” and its reputation drew visitors seeking treatment, relaxation, and spectacle. On this map, that cultural history is grounded in geography: the thermal springs are not abstract attractions but features of a particular mountain setting. The surrounding roads, neighborhoods, and developed areas show how a spa town expanded around rare natural phenomena.

The topographic character of the map is one of its great pleasures. The Ouachita Mountains appear through tightly spaced contour lines, showing rugged relief and the pronounced elevation changes that define the region. Around the populated areas, the land opens into gentler valleys and flatter corridors, making the contrast between urban settlement and surrounding hills immediately visible. Nearby water features such as Lake Hamilton and Lake Catherine add another dimension to the landscape, emphasizing the role of reservoirs, recreation, and drainage in the region’s development. Roads, trails, and highways thread through the terrain, revealing the practical routes by which people moved between Hot Springs, Fountain Lake, wooded parklands, and the broader mountain country.

As a historical document, “Hot Springs North” preserves the geography and infrastructure of the Hot Springs area at a moment before later decades of growth reshaped land use, road networks, and suburban development. The red urban areas and green forested tracts form a snapshot of the balance between city and woodland in the 1960s, while the contours remain a reminder of the enduring physical framework beneath change. For collectors, the map offers more than local interest: it is a record of how a nationally important mapping agency documented a uniquely American resort landscape. Its combination of scientific precision, regional history, dramatic terrain, and association with Arkansas’s thermal springs gives it lasting appeal.

Cities, towns and places on this map

• Hot Springs
• Lake Catherine
• Lake Hamilton
• Ouachita Mountain
• Spa City (nickname for Hot Springs)
• Fountain Lake
• Hot Springs Village
• Roads, trails, and highways throughout the area
• Rolling hills and valleys surrounding the populated areas
• Parks and forested areas depicted in green shading
• Thermal springs in the vicinity
• Significant contour lines indicating various elevations

Historical context & cartographic details

• Historical 1:24,000 topographical map of Hot Springs, Arkansas and the surrounding area
• Produced by the United States Geological Survey using survey data from 1966 and published in 1967
• USGS has provided reliable, standardized scientific mapping of the United States since 1879
• Highlights Hot Springs, known for its bathhouses and natural thermal springs
• Uses bright green for vegetation and contrasting red for populated areas
• Contour lines indicate elevation and clearly show the area’s topography
• Depicts substantial elevation variation, including the rugged terrain of the Ouachita Mountains and flatter areas near urban settings
• Serves as a record of geographic and urban development in the Hot Springs area
• Shows how land use, infrastructure, and the surrounding landscape have evolved since publication

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.