Old Map of Minot, North Dakota by USGS, 1966 – Afton & Souris River

Titled “Minot,” this US Geological Survey quadrangle presents the North Dakota city and its surrounding country with the quiet authority of mid-century American cartography. Published in 1968 using survey data from 1966, it captures Minot at a revealing moment: established as a regional hub, yet still closely interwoven with the agricultural land, roads, waterways, and surveyed parcels around it. At a scale of 1:24,000, the map offers a finely resolved view of urban plots, land boundaries, highways, streams, and the contours that shape the city’s setting. The result is both a technical document and a historical portrait, preserving the geography of Minot before later decades of expansion, infrastructure change, and shifting patterns of land use.

The US Geological Survey, founded in 1879, became one of the most trusted cartographic institutions in the United States, producing maps that served scientists, engineers, planners, land managers, and the public alike. Its topographical quadrangles are admired for their disciplined clarity: a language of contour lines, color, symbols, and surveyed precision that turns landscape into legible form. In this “Minot” sheet, that tradition is evident in the careful differentiation of built-up areas, vegetation, roads, watercourses, and elevation. Unlike decorative earlier maps, USGS quadrangles were made for accuracy and utility, yet their restrained design has its own elegance. They reveal how a landscape is organized, measured, inhabited, and understood.

Minot itself appears as the principal focus, its urban fabric shaded and structured amid the surrounding grid of roads, plots, and rural boundaries. The map records the city not as an isolated settlement, but as part of a wider regional system, linked by highways and local routes to nearby places such as Afton and to the agricultural countryside beyond. The arrangement of streets, transport corridors, and land divisions speaks to the practical geography of the northern plains, where settlement patterns often followed railroads, roads, water access, and surveyed township lines. For collectors interested in urban history, the map offers a compelling baseline against which the city’s later growth and redevelopment can be imagined.

The topographic character of the map is central to its appeal. Contour lines trace subtle changes in elevation across the landscape, revealing rises, draws, drainage patterns, and the broader form of the terrain around Minot. Rivers and streams provide natural structure, while areas of vegetation and open land help distinguish the lived environment from the surrounding prairie. The color scheme, typical of USGS topographic design, is both functional and visually refined: contours, urban shading, transportation lines, hydrography, and land cover each occupy their own register. This layered visual system allows the viewer to read the land in several ways at once—as terrain, as settlement, as infrastructure, and as environment.

Historically, the map is especially valuable as a snapshot of Minot in the 1960s, a period when many American regional centers were adapting to automobile-oriented growth, modern infrastructure, and evolving economic patterns. North Dakota’s towns and cities were shaped by agriculture, transportation, resource development, and military presence, and Minot’s location made it an important service and commercial center for the surrounding area. By preserving the configuration of roads, urban blocks, land boundaries, and natural features as they stood in 1966, this map invites comparison with the present landscape. It is a precise and evocative record of place: scientific in purpose, elegant in execution, and rich with evidence of historical change.

Cities, towns and places on this map

• Minot
• Afton
• Roads, notably highways
• Rivers and streams
• Areas of vegetation
• Urban plots indicated through shading
• Noted land boundaries or surveys

Historical context & cartographic details

• Published by the US Geological Survey (USGS)
• Historical 1:24,000 topographical map of Minot, North Dakota and the surrounding area
• Based on survey data from 1966 and published in 1968
• The USGS is known for accurate and detailed mapping used in geology, environmental science, urban planning, and related fields
• Uses distinct color schemes to show land uses, elevations, urban areas, vegetation, and other geographic features
• Features contour lines showing changes in elevation and the varied terrain around Minot
• Provides insight into land use, urban development, population shifts, and infrastructure changes in Minot since the 1960s

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.