Mount Katahdin Map 1927 — Framed USGS Appalachian Trail Terminus Print

Which finish

The same print, five ways

Prices are for the size you have chosen above — change the size and these change with it. Tap one to choose it.

Framed and canvas arrive ready to hang. Paper arrives as the print alone — if you are framing it yourself, measure the print size, not the framed size quoted in the picker. Every finish is the same restored file at the same resolution: the finish changes what the print is mounted on, never the image.

The story of this map

Katahdin is where a northbound thru-hike ends, and no other mountain in the eastern United States looks like it on a map. This advance sheet was surveyed in 1927 and drawn entirely in brown, with no colour at all, so the mountain arrives as pure contour.

The result is extraordinary. The Great Basin, the South Basin and Chimney Pond appear as nested rings inside the horseshoe of the summit ridge; Pamola, Chimney Peak, South Peak and Baxter Peak are strung along the rim; and the Knife Edge between them shows as two contour walls almost touching. Around it the land falls away into the flat lake and stream country of the Penobscot West Branch — Abol, Debsconeag, Nesowadnehunk — which makes the mountain look as isolated on paper as it does from the ground.

The trail had not arrived in 1927. Katahdin was named the northern terminus in the early 1930s, and what the sheet shows instead is the Katahdin Park Game Preserve, the boundary Percival Baxter was then working to turn into a state park.

We print it as a restored reproduction in our Framed Topographic Maps collection. It is the one sheet in this set we trim: see the note below.

Before and after

Left: the archive scan exactly as published. Right: the file that goes to the printer.

Mount Katahdin Topographic Map, 1927: archive scan compared with the restored print

Archive scanRestored

Restoration notes

Scanner margins squared up, colour cast and levels balanced while keeping the warm tone of the paper, dust and specks removed, gentle sharpening. No contour, name or symbol is redrawn, and nothing is added that the surveyors did not print.

About this particular sheet. These sheets are scans of the Survey's own file copies. Small archive stamps, pencilled accession numbers and, on older sheets, the creases of having been folded, sit in the paper margins outside the map itself. They are part of the sheet's history and we print them as they are rather than paint them out. This sheet is the exception. Its lower margin carried a large black archive stamp struck across the title block, which reads as damage rather than as history, so the print is trimmed at the map's lower neatline. You get the map face without its bottom title panel; the other ten sheets keep their full margins.

Every print carries its archive credit on the packing slip. Paper tone and small imperfections of the original are kept on purpose; nothing is redrawn.

Questions

Is this an original antique map?

No. It is a new archival print made from a restored high-resolution scan of the 1927 sheet held in the US Geological Survey's Historical Topographic Map Collection. We never sell originals.

Is the Appalachian Trail marked on this map?

No. This sheet predates the trail in this section, so there is no trail line to show. It is sold for the country it maps, which is the country the trail crosses.

What ground does the sheet cover?

The Katahdin, Maine quadrangle at 1:48,000. Named on it: Baxter Peak, Chimney Pond, Pamola Peak.

How large can I print it?

Up to 24 × 36 inches. Every size we offer is checked against the restored file itself, so the largest size listed is one this scan genuinely supports at 200 dpi or better — we do not upscale.

Does it come framed?

Yes, if you choose a framed option. Prints are made to order on archival matte paper and framed in black, white or oak in or near the country of delivery; unframed paper and canvas are also available.

Colours vary between screens and paper. The tone you see here is a close match to the archival matte print; framed prints have no glass glare in these previews.

Complete the wall

Add a second print and take 10% off the cheaper framed one

Priced at whatever size and finish you have chosen above, so the pair total is the real one. Change the size and these change with it.

Crawford Notch Topographic Map, 1896

Yosemite Topographic Map, 1909

Grand Canyon Bright Angel Topographic Map, 1903

The 10% comes off the cheaper framed print and is applied at checkout. Paper and canvas prints do not qualify on their own — the discount needs two framed prints in the cart.

From people who bought it

Every review here is from a verified order — the link is signed and sent 21 days after delivery, so nobody can review a print they did not buy. We read them before they go up and we do not edit them. We send a 10% code for leaving one, whatever it says: the code is never conditional on a rating, and we publish criticism. We hold a review back only if it is abusive, defamatory, off-topic or an advertisement, and we tell the writer why. The rules are here.

Size	Metric	Best for
12×16 in	30×41 cm	Desk, shelf, small wall, gallery groupings
12×18 in	30×46 cm	Desk, shelf, small wall, gallery groupings
16×20 in	41×51 cm	Above a desk or console, hallway, bedroom
16×24 in	41×61 cm	Above a desk or console, hallway, bedroom
18×24 in	46×61 cm	Above a desk or console, hallway, bedroom
20×30 in	51×76 cm	Over a sofa or bed, statement wall, office
24×30 in	61×76 cm	Over a sofa or bed, statement wall, office
24×32 in	61×81 cm	Over a sofa or bed, statement wall, office
24×36 in	61×91 cm	Over a sofa or bed, statement wall, office

Mount Katahdin Topographic Map, 1927

The same print, five ways

Before and after

Restoration notes

Add a second print and take 10% off the cheaper framed one