Old Map of Page, Arizona by USGS, 1954 – Glen Canyon, Lake Powell & Colorado River

“Leche-E Rock,” published by the U.S. Geological Survey in 1956 from 1954 mapping, captures a dramatic corner of northern Arizona at a moment just before transformation. At a 1:62,500 scale, the map centers on the Page area and the surrounding Colorado Plateau, where desert expanses are carved by river corridors, mesas, ridges, and canyons. Its title preserves the local prominence of Leche-E Rock, a landmark embedded in a landscape of sandstone relief and sparse settlement. The map’s mid-century date is especially evocative: it records the region on the eve of major federal water-development projects that would soon bring Glen Canyon Dam, Lake Powell, and the planned community of Page into national prominence.

The U.S. Geological Survey brought its characteristic precision to this sheet, combining scientific measurement with a restrained, elegant cartographic language. Contour lines describe the land with fine-grained discipline, revealing subtle benches, steep escarpments, and the broken geometry of high-desert terrain. Color differentiates topographic and cultural information, while shaded relief gives the plateau a sculptural quality, allowing the eye to read the rise and fall of the land almost instinctively. Roads, trails, drainage channels, reservation boundaries, and named and unnamed landforms are set into a coherent visual system, making the map both a technical document and a striking portrait of place.

The terrain shown is classic Colorado Plateau country: open, arid, and monumental. Mesas stand above valleys like natural fortresses, ridges run in long stony lines, and the Colorado River winds through a landscape it has spent millennia cutting and reshaping. The map’s contours emphasize the region’s vertical drama, where elevation changes define travel, settlement, and access to water. Around Page and the surrounding reservation lands, one can trace the relationship between human movement and landform—routes bending around cliffs, following washes, or seeking manageable crossings through rugged ground. The result is a map that makes visible the physical logic of the desert.

Historically, this sheet is compelling because it belongs to the years immediately preceding the construction of Glen Canyon Dam, which began in the late 1950s. Before Lake Powell filled the canyon country behind the dam, this was a landscape of exposed river corridors, remote mesas, and limited infrastructure. Page itself would grow rapidly in connection with the dam project, becoming a gateway to Lake Powell, Glen Canyon, and some of the American Southwest’s most celebrated scenery. Seen in this context, the map is not merely a record of topography; it is a snapshot of a region just before one of the most consequential landscape alterations of the twentieth-century West.

The map’s beauty lies in the tension between austerity and abundance. At first glance, it is a disciplined government topographic sheet; on closer inspection, it becomes a dense visual archive of land, water, movement, and impending change. Its roads and trails hint at settlement patterns and working routes across difficult country, while the reservation boundary speaks to the deeper human geography of the region. The unnamed mesas and ridges are as important as the labeled places, giving the map a sense of vastness and discovery. For collectors, “Leche-E Rock” offers the rare pleasure of a scientifically exact map that also evokes the romance, scale, and historical drama of the American Southwest.

Cities, towns and places on this map

• Page, Arizona
• Lake Powell
• Glen Canyon Dam
• Colorado River
• Indian Reservation
• Various unnamed mesas and ridges
• Trails and roads
• Topographical features, including contours and shading

Historical context & cartographic details

• Historical 1:62,500 topographical map titled Leche-E Rock
• Produced by the US Geological Survey (USGS)
• Dated 1954 and published with a 1956 imprint
• Features contour lines showing elevation changes
• Uses varying colors to distinguish different topographic features
• Shaded relief adds depth and helps visualize the terrain
• Shows the rugged character of the Colorado Plateau, including mesas, valleys, and river-cut terrain
• Reflects mid-20th-century geographical knowledge of the area
• Highlights a region that would soon be transformed by major infrastructure development, especially the construction of Glen Canyon Dam beginning in the late 1950s

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.