Old Map of Jerome, Arizona by USGS, 1973 – Cottonwood, Verde River & Coconino National Forest

The “Cottonwood Quadrangle” was surveyed in 1973 and issued with a 1977 USGS imprint, capturing a particularly evocative portion of central Arizona at the authoritative 1:24,000 scale. Produced by the United States Geological Survey, it belongs to the great national project of precise topographic mapping that defined American landscapes in the twentieth century. Here, the historic mining town of Jerome appears amid the rugged folds above the Verde Valley, with Cottonwood, the Verde River, and surrounding highlands arranged in crisp cartographic order. The map’s appeal lies in its union of scientific exactitude and regional drama: contour lines, waterways, vegetation, roads, and settlement patterns combine to create a richly legible portrait of a mountainous desert-edge landscape.

The cartography is characteristically meticulous, with closely spaced contour lines revealing the steep hillsides and abrupt elevation changes around Jerome and Black Mountain. Subtle earth tones and greens distinguish upland terrain, lower valleys, and forested areas, giving the sheet a vivid topographical rhythm. This is a landscape of escarpments, drainage cuts, ridges, and basins, where the physical geography dictates the pattern of travel and settlement. Clear Creek, the Verde River corridor, and smaller washes cut through the terrain, while the surrounding relief suggests both geological complexity and human perseverance. The result is not merely a practical survey, but a visual study of Arizona’s verticality, where mining roads, settlements, and natural landforms are inseparable.

Jerome is the historical heart of the map: a copper boomtown dramatically perched on the slopes of the Black Hills. Once among Arizona’s most important mining centers, Jerome rose on the wealth of copper extracted from the surrounding mountains, then declined as mining activity waned in the mid-twentieth century. By the era represented here, it was in the midst of reinvention, shifting from industrial town to historic enclave and artist community. That transition gives the map particular resonance. It records the area after the great mining age, but before later waves of heritage tourism and development had fully reshaped the town’s identity. Roads, elevations, and neighboring features preserve the physical setting that made Jerome both difficult and extraordinary.

Beyond Jerome and Cottonwood, the quadrangle situates the Verde Valley within a broader geographic frame that includes the Coconino National Forest, Chino Valley, Pine Mountain, Hillside, Gold Dust, and the uplands leading toward Prescott. The Verde River is especially important, threading through a region otherwise defined by aridity and broken terrain. Its valley provided a natural route, a water source, and a basis for settlement, agriculture, and later regional connection. The contrast between river bottom, high ridges, and forested slopes is one of the map’s most compelling qualities. It shows central Arizona not as a uniform desert, but as a layered ecological and geological zone shaped by water, elevation, and mineral wealth.

As a document of the 1970s, this USGS sheet preserves a moment before many subsequent changes in land use, infrastructure, tourism, and urban expansion altered the Verde Valley and its surroundings. It reflects the geological and ecological character of the region with a clarity that remains historically valuable: the placement of roads, the extent of vegetation, the configuration of settlements, and the detailed relief all speak to the landscape as it was then understood and surveyed. For collectors, the map offers more than geographic information; it captures the meeting point of mining history, federal scientific cartography, and Arizona’s dramatic high-desert terrain. Its disciplined design turns a complex landscape into an elegant, information-rich historical record.

Cities, towns and places on this map

• Jerome, Arizona
• Cottonwood, Arizona
• Prescott, Arizona
• Coconino National Forest
• Verde River
• Black Mountain
• Chino Valley
• Gold Dust
• Hillside
• Clear Creek
• Pine Mountain

Historical context & cartographic details

• Map name: Cottonwood Quadrangle
• Produced by the US Geological Survey as a historical 1:24,000 topographical map.
• Dated 1973, with a 1977 imprint.
• Published by the United States Geological Survey, an important institution in American land surveying, mapping, and scientific data collection.
• Shows Jerome and the surrounding Arizona landscape during the 1970s.
• Jerome is a historic copper mining town that later transformed into an artist community.
• Features detailed topographical mapping, including contour lines, water bodies, and vegetation shading.
• Emphasizes elevation changes, land cover, steep hills, valleys, and forested terrain.
• Reflects the geological and ecological character of the Jerome area before later changes in land use and urban development.
• Uses a clear color palette, with greens for lower elevations and earth tones for higher terrain.

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.

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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.