Old Map of Torrey, Utah by USGS, 1952 – Notom & Fish Springs

Published with a 1954 imprint from mapping dated 1952, the US Geological Survey’s “Notom 2 SW” captures a compelling portion of south-central Utah at a moment when the region’s roads, settlements, and physical geography were being recorded with modern scientific precision. Centered on the country around Torrey and Notom, the map belongs to the USGS 1:24,000 topographical tradition, a scale prized for its intimacy and exactness. Its title is spare and technical, yet the landscape it reveals is anything but plain: a terrain of ridges, drainages, valleys, and desert uplands shaped by water, wind, and deep geological time. As a historical document, it preserves the area as understood in the early 1950s, before later development altered parts of the surrounding rural landscape.

The map’s great visual drama lies in its contour lines, which describe the rise and fall of the land with elegant clarity. Southwestern Utah is a place where elevation defines experience: ridges command long views, washes carve through dry country, and valleys gather the few routes suitable for settlement and travel. Here, unnamed peaks and broken high ground appear not through pictorial flourish, but through the disciplined language of topography. Each line suggests slope, exposure, and difficulty, allowing the viewer to read the terrain almost as a three-dimensional form. This emphasis on physical structure gives the map a quiet authority, making it especially evocative for those drawn to rugged western landscapes and the cartographic art of measured observation.

Torrey, Utah, appears as the principal populated place, anchoring the map within a human geography of small settlements, road connections, and working landscapes. In the early 1950s, Torrey was still a modest rural community, positioned amid a dramatic setting of high desert, agricultural pockets, and the approaches to some of Utah’s most striking canyon country. Nearby Notom lends the quadrangle its name, evoking the scattered settlement patterns that characterized this part of the state. Roads and trails thread through the map, following practical passages across difficult ground. Their courses reveal how movement in this region was shaped less by geometric planning than by the demands of slope, water, and terrain.

Fish Springs and the surrounding natural features add another layer of interest to the map, suggesting the importance of water in an arid environment. Springs, streams, and drainages—whether named or unnamed—are among the most meaningful details on a topographical map of Utah, where settlement, grazing, travel, and survival often depended on reliable water sources. Valleys and depressions are carefully rendered, their forms made legible through contouring and drainage patterns. The result is a portrait of a landscape both spare and intricate, where even subtle changes in elevation could determine land use. Such details make the map valuable not only as geography, but as a record of environmental relationships at mid-century.

Produced by the US Geological Survey, “Notom 2 SW” reflects the agency’s enduring mission to map the nation with accuracy, consistency, and practical usefulness. By the 1950s, USGS topographical mapping had become essential to engineering, land management, recreation, resource study, and local planning, particularly in the American West. This sheet embodies that tradition: restrained in design, rich in information, and deeply attentive to the realities of the ground. Its historical significance lies in the way it fixes a specific moment in the mapping of Utah’s interior, showing roads, settlements, landforms, and watercourses as they were then known. For collectors, it offers a refined and data-rich view of a striking western landscape.

Cities, towns and places on this map

• Torrey, Utah
• Notom, Utah
• Fish Springs
• Various unnamed peaks and ridges
• Rivers and streams
• Valleys and depressions
• Roads and trails in the region

Historical context & cartographic details

• Produced by the US Geological Survey.
• Dates from 1952 and carries a 1954 imprint.
• Historical 1:24,000 topographical map showing Torrey, Utah and the surrounding area.
• Uses contour lines to represent elevation changes and show the area’s topography.
• Emphasizes the physical features of the landscape in detail.
• Shows varying elevations important for understanding the rugged terrain of southwestern Utah.
• Reflects the geography as understood in the early 1950s.
• Provides insight into how land use and natural features may have changed since publication.

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.

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The model in the listing images is holding the 16x20in (40x50cm) version of this map.

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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.