Old Map of Portland, Oregon by USGS, 1961 – Columbia & Willamette Rivers, Vancouver

Published by the United States Geological Survey, the map titled “Portland” presents Oregon’s largest city through the exacting language of mid-twentieth-century topography. Created in 1961 and carrying a 1978 imprint, it preserves a layered moment in the city’s development: a survey-era portrait refined for later official use. At the 1:24,000 scale, Portland appears not as an abstraction but as a living terrain of streets, slopes, waterways, rail lines, parks, and industrial edges. The USGS’s disciplined cartographic style gives the sheet both scientific authority and visual elegance, with color-coded urban zones, blue waterways, precise gridlines, and contouring that reveals the hidden structure beneath the city’s neighborhoods.

The great natural framework of Portland is immediately apparent. The Willamette River bisects the city on its northward course to the Columbia River, shaping settlement, commerce, and transportation on both banks. Ross Island sits prominently in the river corridor, while the Columbia Slough traces the low, watery margins of North Portland. Johnson Creek winds through the southeast, marking a softer landscape of floodplain and neighborhood growth, and Mount Tabor rises as one of the city’s most distinctive volcanic landmarks. To the west, Forest Park and Washington Park emphasize Portland’s rare intimacy with steep, wooded terrain, while River View Cemetery and the hills above the Willamette display the dramatic elevation changes that define the city’s western edge.

As an urban document, the map captures Portland during a pivotal period of metropolitan expansion. East Portland and West Portland are shown with their contrasting patterns: gridded streetcar-era neighborhoods on the east side and more contoured, hill-responsive development to the west. Sellwood, Ladd’s Addition, Hawthorne Boulevard, Alberta Street, and the areas later associated with the Alberta Arts District appear within a city still shaped by older commercial corridors and residential street patterns. Lake Oswego, Beaverton, Tigard, Hillsboro, Oregon City, and Vancouver suggest the wider regional orbit into which Portland was increasingly drawn. The map quietly records the transition from a compact river city into a broader, interconnected urban region.

Transportation is one of the map’s most revealing themes. Interstate 5, Marine Drive, and the evolving highway network show the growing dominance of automobile infrastructure, while the 1978 imprint helps place the sheet in the era when routes such as Interstate 205 were reshaping movement around the metropolitan edge. Portland International Airport appears as a major modern gateway beside the Columbia, reinforcing the city’s postwar role in regional commerce and travel. Older recreational and civic landmarks, including Oaks Amusement Park and Washington Park, coexist with industrial riverfronts, arterial roads, and suburban approaches. This mixture gives the map a striking historical texture: Portland caught between streetcar urbanism, highway planning, and environmental geography.

The USGS was uniquely suited to create such a portrait, combining field survey, scientific measurement, and standardized national mapping conventions. Its work supported land management, engineering, resource assessment, and public planning, but it also produced maps of remarkable cultural value. Here, the bold use of red for developed areas, blue for rivers and sloughs, and careful contouring for relief turns Portland into a dense visual record of land use and landscape. Seen today, the map invites comparison with later decades of infill, freeway construction, neighborhood transformation, and environmental restoration. It is both a technical achievement and a historical witness to Portland at a moment when its modern metropolitan identity was still taking shape.

Cities, towns and places on this map

• Portland, Oregon
• Columbia River
• Willamette River
• Mount Tabor
• Johnson Creek
• Ross Island
• East Portland
• West Portland
• Lake Oswego
• Sellwood
• Oregon City
• Hillsboro
• Beaverton
• Tigard
• Forest Park
• Columbia Slough
• Interstate 5
• Interstate 205
• Portland International Airport
• Washington Park
• Oaks Amusement Park
• Vancouver, Washington
• Marine Drive
• Sandy River
• Alberta Street
• Hawthorne Boulevard
• River View Cemetery
• Ladd's Addition
• Alberta Arts District

Historical context & cartographic details

• Produced by the US Geological Survey, this historical 1:24,000 topographical map shows Portland, Oregon and the surrounding area.
• The map was created in 1961 and carries a 1978 imprint.
• The US Geological Survey played a vital role in providing geographic information and scientific research for land management and resource assessment.
• The map focuses on Portland’s urban development, transportation networks, natural features, and topography.
• Color-coded topography is used, with red shades indicating urban and mixed-use areas and blue tones representing waterways.
• Precise annotations and gridlines reflect the cartographic standards of the period.
• The map provides a detailed portrayal of elevation changes, water bodies, and urban infrastructure.
• It offers insight into Portland’s land use patterns during a period of significant growth.
• The map highlights a specific era in Portland’s development through its bold use of color and detailed urban planning elements.

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.

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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.