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A foundational topographic map of Yosemite National Park, produced by the U.S. Geological Survey under the direction of Chief Geographer R.B. Marshall, and based on field surveys conducted between 1893 and 1909. Issued in 1915 and reprinted in 1917, this map depicts Yosemite’s dramatic topography, infrastructure, and land management boundaries just two decades after the park’s establishment in 1890.
Drawn from Geological Survey atlas sheets and printed at a scale of 1:125,000, the map offers an exceptionally detailed view of the Sierra Nevada terrain, showing the park’s river systems, alpine lakes, granite domes, and glacial valleys in finely engraved brown contours. Features such as Half Dome, El Capitan, and Tuolumne Meadows are rendered with topographic precision. Trails, roads, bridges, dams, and structures are marked in black; U.S. township lines and reservation boundaries are also indicated.
Notably, a warning is printed beneath the scale bar: “Elevations in southwestern quarter are 85 feet too high”, highlighting early awareness of cartographic error correction in U.S.G.S. output. A declination diagram is printed at bottom center of the title block, and a full explanation of symbols occupies the lower right margin.
Published under the supervision of Franklin K. Lane, Secretary of the Interior, and George Otis Smith, Director of the U.S.G.S., the map exemplifies Progressive Era mapping initiatives aimed at public land stewardship, infrastructure planning, and tourism development.
A rare survival in its original hanging format, this map would have been used in schools, ranger stations, and survey offices, offering an authoritative view of one of America’s most iconic national parks.
