Loading map...

1959 Map of St. Paul

Name: 1959 Topographic Map of St. Paul
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1959
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1959

About this map

The Minneapolis and Saint Paul metropolitan area stands at the heart of this 1950s regional survey, showing the Twin Cities before the full expansion of the modern interstate system. The landscape is defined by the confluence of the Mississippi River, Minnesota River, and St Croix River, which supported a dense network of river-and-rail commerce. Beyond the urban centers, the map documents the established agricultural and industrial corridors reaching toward Rochester and Mankato.

Regional transportation is dominated by major rail lines like the Great Northern and Chicago Milwaukee St Paul and Pacific, which parallel the watercourses. To the southeast, the Mississippi widens into Lake Pepin, flanked by distinctive terrain features such as Coffee Mill Bluff and the Upper Mississippi River Wild Life and Fish Refuge. This survey captures the transition of satellite towns like Hopkins, Edina, and Richfield as they evolved from independent settlements into the modern suburban fabric of the region.