Old Map of Brooklyn, New York by USGS, 1945 – Coney Island, Prospect Park & Jamaica Bay

Titled “Franklin” and published by the United States Geological Survey in 1945, this 1:31,680 topographical map captures Brooklyn and its surrounding waterways at a pivotal historical moment. Issued in the final year of the Second World War, it presents the borough not as a modern cultural shorthand, but as a working urban landscape of docks, rail corridors, industrial basins, residential grids, parks, and tidal margins. The USGS’s precise cartographic language gives the map an authoritative clarity: contour lines, color distinctions, and carefully labeled neighborhoods render the terrain with disciplined elegance. Brooklyn appears here as both city and coastline, shaped by New York Harbor, Jamaica Bay, Gravesend Bay, and a complex web of human infrastructure.

The US Geological Survey had, by 1945, become one of America’s defining cartographic institutions, combining scientific rigor with a remarkably refined visual style. Its topographical maps were designed for practical use—engineering, planning, military reference, geological study—yet they now read as richly layered historical documents. In this map, the USGS method brings order to one of the nation’s densest urban environments, tracing not only streets and railways but also subtle elevations, marsh edges, parkland, and watercourses. The classic topographic layout transforms Brooklyn into a measured landscape, revealing the physical foundations beneath the borough’s familiar urban identity. Every contour and symbol records a relationship between land, water, settlement, and movement.

Brooklyn in 1945 was a borough of immense variety, and this map reflects that diversity with unusual richness. Flatbush, East New York, Bushwick, Red Hook, Canarsie, South Brooklyn, Prospect Lefferts Gardens, and Coney Island appear as distinct urban worlds connected by roads, railways, and transit lines. Prospect Park forms a great green anchor within the street grid, while the Brooklyn Botanic Garden and Brooklyn College signal the borough’s cultural and educational life. To the south, Marine Park, Mill Basin, Barren Island, and Jamaica Bay introduce a more amphibious geography of wetlands, inlets, and reclaimed margins. The result is a portrait of Brooklyn balanced between metropolitan density and coastal openness.

The waterways are among the map’s most compelling features, giving Brooklyn a maritime character that has shaped its history for centuries. New York Harbor, Gravesend Bay, the Gowanus Canal, Mill Basin, and Jamaica Bay define the borough’s edges and industrial arteries. Red Hook and the Gowanus corridor evoke the working waterfront, with warehouses, shipping, and manufacturing embedded into the urban fabric. Coney Island, by contrast, suggests leisure, spectacle, and escape at the city’s southern rim. The wetlands around Jamaica Bay and Canarsie reveal a landscape before later waves of environmental restoration and redevelopment, preserving the memory of tidal flats, marshland, and low-lying coastal terrain.

As a postwar document, this map stands at the threshold of modern Brooklyn. It predates many later transformations: highway expansion, large-scale redevelopment, demographic change, deindustrialization, gentrification, and the reinvention of waterfront neighborhoods. The Brooklyn shown here is still deeply tied to rail lines, docks, canals, working-class districts, and neighborhood-scale urban life. Yet the contours and land-use patterns also hint at the forces that would shape the borough’s future, from coastal engineering to residential expansion and park preservation. With its blend of technical precision and historical atmosphere, “Franklin” offers a rare view of Brooklyn as it was structured in 1945—urban, industrial, maritime, and unmistakably alive.

Cities, towns and places on this map

• Brooklyn
• East New York
• Flatbush
• Coney Island
• Prospect Park
• Jamaica Bay
• Gowanus Canal
• New York Harbor
• Mill Basin
• Gravesend Bay
• Bushwick
• Red Hook
• Canarsie
• Marine Park
• South Brooklyn
• Prospect Lefferts Gardens
• Barren Island
• Brooklyn Botanic Garden
• Brooklyn College
• Major roads and highways
• Railways and transit lines
• Parks and recreational areas
• Wetlands and waterways
• Residential neighborhoods

Historical context & cartographic details

• Historical 1:31,680 topographical map titled Franklin
• Produced by the US Geological Survey (USGS)
• Dated 1945
• Shows Brooklyn, New York, and the surrounding area
• Features nearby regions, waterways, and topographic features
• Uses a classic topographical layout with contour lines to show elevation changes
• Includes shaded relief for added visual depth
• Uses distinct color differences to indicate land cover types such as forests and urban areas
• Shows a mix of urban and natural landscapes
• Reflects Brooklyn’s post-World War II urban structure during a period of rapid development and change
• Documents an area that has since experienced major transformation, including redevelopment, demographic shifts, and gentrification

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 18x24in (45x60cm) 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.