Topographic maps contain data on the natural features of the land, such as elevations, contours, water bodies, and other features, plus they may also contain man-made features such as roads, railroads, buildings and structures, etc. The main concept of topographic maps is that they show the way the landscape would appear if viewed from above. A brief note on the history of the USGS topographic map system describes the creation of this valuable series.

The UB Map Collection includes topographical maps of the entire United States at scales of 1:24,000, 1:100,000, and 1:250,000; a complete set of Canadian topographic maps at 1:25,000; 1:50,000 and 1:100,000; World maps at 1:250,000 and 1:1,000,000; and maps of Europe, Mexico, and other areas at more detailed scales. U.S. topographical maps are arranged alphabetically by state, and then alphabetically by map name.

Use Index maps to locate topographic maps for the U.S. and Canada. (Click here for the location of topographic maps in the Map Room). In addition to printed maps, digital maps are available:

• Topographic Maps (Digital Rasterized Graphic) image files for download (for use in ArcView, Photoshop). Also available here are low-res images of each quad.
• New York State Gazetteer & GeoData Collection. This UB Libaries page provides a gazetteer, along with the digital collection of downloadable USGS topographic maps, such as georeferenced Digital Raster Graphics (DRG's). These maps are suitable for both general use and GIS applications.
• Digital Topographic Maps of the U.S. available on the Map Room PC (see: Topo USA).

In addition, there are historic or pre-1950 topographic maps (mostly 1:63,360) of New York State. These can be located using BISON the UB Libraries Catalog, and are available for use inside the Map Room. Ask for assistance at the UGL/SEL reference desk. An index is available at several external sites: Historic Maps of New England and New York state, or the MapTech site (commercial site; some restrictions for use). Both websites provide direct access to image files of the topo maps. MapTech now offers historic topo maps for the following states: Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, and West Virginia.

Examples of Buffalo topos can seen here: Historical Topographic Maps of Buffalo.

To order USGS maps, visit the USGS Store with order information, or visit commercial map dealers.

Topographic Maps. USGS page describing terms and concepts relating to topo maps. A good starting point is: Introduction to maps. See also additional topo map pages.

Topographic map symbols. Though somewhat uniform throughout the cartographic world, not all maps use the same symbols. This link shows symbols used by USGS. Additional descriptions here: Topographic map symbols, landforms, and map examples (California State University, Sacramento).

USGS Topographic Maps - The largest collection of maps in the Map Room are U.S. government produced topographic map series. Below are numerical statistics on the number of USGS Topographic Maps in various series from the National Topographic Map Names Database.

Sample topographic maps:

Buffalo, NE Quadrangle map. 1:24,000 topographic map of the Northeast part of Buffalo, and surrounding suburbs, produced by the U.S.G.S. (1503KB jpg image) Call Number: U.S. State Topographical map section: Arranged alphabetically by title. (For an index to Western New York State 1:24,000 scale maps, go to the low resolution Map Index (Western NY). The entire state is broken into four sections. All four are 8.5 by 11 inch Acrobat format (PDF) files. (Note: These files are large and will display and print more efficiently if saved to disk and opened in the Acrobat Reader software outside of your Internet browser.)

Lockport, NY. 1:100,000 topographic map. (2703K GIF image) Call Number: US I 19.110 : 43078-A1-TM-100/994

Guide Author: David J. Bertuca

Last Update: 8 September, 2009