Old Map of Nantucket, Massachusetts by USGS, 1945 – Nantucket Harbor, Madaket & Sconset

Published in 1945, the United States Geological Survey’s “Nantucket” presents the island at a detailed 1:31,680 scale, capturing one of New England’s most storied maritime landscapes at a revealing mid-20th-century moment. The map encompasses Nantucket itself, its harbor, surrounding shoals and waters, and the settlements, roads, ponds, and coastal features that define the island’s distinctive geography. With Nantucket Sound to the north and the Atlantic Ocean pressing against its southern and eastern shores, the sheet frames the island as both a settled community and a vulnerable outpost of sand, surf, and sea lanes. Its careful topographic rendering offers a disciplined portrait of elevation, drainage, coastline, and habitation, balancing scientific precision with the quiet elegance of coastal cartography.

The USGS, founded in 1879, became the preeminent American institution for mapping the nation’s landforms, resources, and natural hazards, and this Nantucket sheet reflects the agency’s mature cartographic language. Roads, trails, contours, marshes, ponds, and shoreline details are organized with clarity, allowing the viewer to read the island not merely as a destination, but as a landscape shaped by geology, weather, and human use. The muted color palette—soft, practical, and understated—lends the map a refined visual character while preserving the authority of its topographical purpose. Each contour and symbol contributes to a broader understanding of Nantucket’s low relief, sandy terrain, coastal ponds, and exposed headlands.

Nantucket Harbor occupies a central place in the map’s geography and history, recalling the island’s long association with whaling, shipping, fishing, and coastal navigation. Brant Point, guarding the entrance to the harbor, appears as one of the island’s key maritime landmarks, while the town of Nantucket is shown as the principal settlement, its streets and routes gathered near the sheltered waters that sustained its prosperity. Farther west, Madaket marks the island’s more remote edge, facing tidal currents and open water. To the south, Surfside and Cisco Beach evoke a landscape of dunes, beaches, and Atlantic exposure, where recreation and natural forces meet along a shifting shoreline.

The eastern and northeastern reaches of the island are equally evocative. Sconset, or Siasconset, appears near the open Atlantic, a village long admired for its cottages, bluffside setting, and distinctive separation from the busier harbor town. Great Point extends toward Nantucket Sound, a narrow and dramatic coastal projection associated with navigation, wildlife, and the hazards of shoal water. Polpis, Tom Nevers, Miacomet, Hummock Pond, and The Ram Pasture enrich the map with names that preserve layers of local history, ecology, and settlement. These places reveal Nantucket as a mosaic of pastureland, ponds, beaches, heaths, and small communities rather than a single compact town.

As a 1945 topographical document, this map records Nantucket before many later patterns of development, conservation, tourism, and landscape change transformed the island’s appearance and use. Its roads and trails trace the practical routes of an insular community, while its ponds, marshes, beaches, and contours testify to a fragile coastal environment continually shaped by wind, erosion, tides, and storms. Nautical associations are implicit throughout, from harbor approaches and coastal points to the surrounding expanse of Nantucket Sound and the Atlantic. The result is a richly informative portrait of place: a scientific map that also evokes isolation, seafaring memory, and the enduring allure of one of Massachusetts’ most recognizable islands.

Cities, towns and places on this map

• Nantucket
• Nantucket Harbor
• Madaket
• Sconset (Sconset Village)
• Surfside
• Brant Point
• Great Point
• Cisco Beach
• Miacomet
• Polpis
• Tom Nevers
• The Ram Pasture
• Hummock Pond
• Nantucket Sound
• Atlantic Ocean
• Numerous roads and trails
• Landmarks associated with nautical navigation

Historical context & cartographic details

• Produced by the United States Geological Survey (USGS).
• Historical topographical map at a scale of 1:31,680.
• Dated 1945.
• Shows Nantucket, Massachusetts, and the surrounding area.
• Uses a muted color palette with soft pastels to highlight topographical features.
• Includes detailed road and contour lines to show terrain and elevation changes.
• Depicts landforms, natural features, and varying elevations across the island.
• Reflects the geography and development of Nantucket in the mid-20th century.
• Provides a record of the island before later changes in land use, urban development, and natural landscapes.

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.

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The model in the listing images is holding the 16x20in (40x50cm) version of this map.

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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.