Old Map of Starved Rock, Illinois by USGS, 1970 – Illinois River, LaSalle & Oglesby

Published in 1975 from 1970 survey work, the U.S. Geological Survey’s “Starved Rock” presents one of Illinois’s most dramatic river landscapes with the clarity and authority of mid-twentieth-century federal cartography. Drawn at the detailed 1:24,000 scale, the map centers on Starved Rock State Park and the sinuous course of the Illinois River, rendering a terrain shaped by water, sandstone, woodland, and settlement. Its contours trace the abrupt rise of bluffs above the floodplain, while carefully coded roads, trails, built areas, and vegetation distinguish the human landscape from the natural one. As both a scientific document and a historical snapshot, it captures the region at a moment when recreation, conservation, agriculture, and industry all met along the river corridor.

The U.S. Geological Survey, established in 1879, became the preeminent American institution for mapping the nation’s physical geography, and this sheet exemplifies its disciplined topographic style. Rather than embellishment, its beauty lies in precision: contour lines articulate ravines and ridges, blue waterways anchor the composition, and subtle color distinctions reveal forest, open land, transport routes, and developed areas. The result is a map that invites close reading, rewarding the eye with evidence of elevation, drainage, access, and land use. Around Starved Rock, where small changes in height produce striking cliffs and canyons, the USGS method is especially effective. The map’s restrained design makes the landscape legible without diminishing its complexity.

Starved Rock State Park, the principal feature of the map, is one of Illinois’s most storied natural sites. Its name recalls a local legend connected to Native American conflict and the steep sandstone butte overlooking the Illinois River, a commanding landmark long associated with Indigenous presence, French exploration, and later tourism. The surrounding canyons, wooded ravines, and overlooks are products of deep geological time, shaped by glacial meltwater, erosion, and the persistent action of streams cutting through soft St. Peter Sandstone. On the map, these features appear through tight contour intervals, branching drainage lines, and the marked contrast between upland surfaces and the river valley below.

The Illinois River gives the sheet its geographic structure, bending past Starved Rock and linking nearby communities including LaSalle, Peru, Oglesby, Utica, North Utica, and South Ottawa. Roads and trails knit these towns to the park, revealing a landscape at once rural, recreational, and industrially connected. LaSalle and Peru, historically tied to canal, river, rail, and mining activity, appear in relation to the broader transportation corridor that made this part of Illinois economically important. Farm Ridge, Den Park, and smaller named places add local texture, while the mapped fields, wooded tracts, and settled areas convey the transitional character of the region in 1970.

As a historical record, this map preserves the condition of the Starved Rock area before subsequent decades of ecological management, expanded visitation, infrastructure change, and shifting land use. Its contours and hydrography describe enduring physical forms, but its roads, trails, developed zones, and land-cover patterns belong to a specific period in the park’s modern history. For collectors, the appeal lies in this duality: the map is both an exacting scientific portrayal and a cultural artifact of how Americans understood, accessed, and managed cherished landscapes in the late twentieth century. It documents a celebrated Illinois landmark with uncommon intimacy, revealing not only where places are, but how terrain, history, and human use converge.

Cities, towns and places on this map

• Starved Rock State Park
• Illinois River
• LaSalle
• Oglesby
• Utica
• Peru
• Den Park
• Farm Ridge
• North Utica
• South Ottawa
• Various contour lines and elevation markers
• Roads and trails surrounding Starved Rock
• Notable geological features and land uses, including forested areas and cliffs

Historical context & cartographic details

• Produced by the U.S. Geological Survey as a historical 1:24,000 topographical map.
• Dated 1970 and published with a 1975 imprint.
• Created by the U.S. Geological Survey, a scientific agency of the U.S. government known for mapping and geological research.
• Uses color coding to show different terrain types and land use.
• Includes subtle shading and contour lines to illustrate elevation changes.
• Shows a landscape shaped by valleys, cliffs, and riverine topography.
• Reflects the geological and land-use conditions of the area as recorded in 1970.
• Offers a historical snapshot of natural and developed features that may have changed due to urban development, conservation efforts, and ecological shifts.

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.

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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.