Old Map of Houma, Louisiana by USGS, 1963 – Bayou Black & Terrebonne Parish

Titled “Houma,” this United States Geological Survey topographical map was published in 1964 using survey data gathered in 1963, preserving a precise mid-century view of one of southern Louisiana’s most distinctive bayou communities. At 1:24,000 scale, it presents Houma and its surrounding Terrebonne Parish landscape with the clarity and authority characteristic of USGS quadrangles. The map captures an area where settlement, waterways, transport routes, and lowland terrain are inseparably linked. Urban streets and developed areas appear in red, forested tracts in green, and the region’s intricate hydrography in blue, producing both a practical geographic record and an evocative portrait of a parish shaped by water, agriculture, and movement across the coastal plain.

The USGS, founded in the late nineteenth century, became the United States’ preeminent scientific mapping agency, and maps such as “Houma” reflect its mission to document the nation’s landforms, resources, and hazards with systematic precision. By the 1960s, USGS topographic mapping had become indispensable for engineers, planners, geologists, land managers, and local governments. This map belongs to that tradition: it is not merely a street or road map, but a carefully measured depiction of terrain, drainage, land cover, and human settlement. In a region as hydrologically complex as southern Louisiana, such mapping carried special importance, offering a detailed framework for understanding elevation, access, water flow, and the relationship between communities and the bayou environment.

Houma itself appears as the principal populated place, set amid the low, water-threaded terrain of Terrebonne Parish. The surrounding map records nearby neighborhoods, subdivisions, agricultural lands, roads, and the Houma-Terrebonne Airport, all markers of a community expanding in the postwar decades. Highways and local roads form a network across the map, including the corridor of U.S. Highway 90, emphasizing Houma’s role as a regional center connected to the wider Gulf Coast economy. The map’s red urban symbols reveal the pattern of development as it existed in the early 1960s, before later suburban growth and infrastructural expansion transformed much of the area. It is a valuable geographic snapshot of Houma at a pivotal moment.

The cartographic beauty of this sheet lies in the contrast between order and natural complexity. Blue waterways lace through the landscape, suggesting the bayous, drainage channels, and water bodies that define local life and land use. Green forested areas punctuate the lowlands, while agricultural parcels and open lands speak to the working character of the parish. Contour lines, subtle but essential, indicate slight elevation changes across a region where even modest relief can be meaningful. In coastal Louisiana, topography is often a matter of fine gradations, and the USGS treatment allows the viewer to read the terrain with scientific sensitivity, revealing how roads, settlements, and fields occupy a landscape shaped by drainage and floodplain dynamics.

As a historical document, “Houma” invites comparison between the Terrebonne Parish of 1963 and the region known today. It records a moment before decades of accelerated urban growth, environmental change, wetland loss, transportation improvements, and shifting land use patterns altered the southern Louisiana landscape. The map’s disciplined symbols reveal where development had already taken root and where forests, fields, and waterways still dominated. For collectors and historians, it offers more than geographic information: it is a portrait of place at a particular time, balancing the measured language of federal cartography with the cultural resonance of bayou country. Houma emerges here as both a mapped town and a living landscape of roads, water, work, and settlement.

Cities, towns and places on this map

• Houma
• Bayou Black
• Terrebonne Parish
• U.S. Highway 90 and other local roads
• Houma-Terrebonne Airport
• Local rivers and water bodies
• Forested areas
• Agricultural lands
• Nearby neighborhoods and subdivisions

Historical context & cartographic details

• Historical 1:24,000 topographical map of Houma, Louisiana and the surrounding area
• Based on survey data from 1963 and published in 1964
• Produced by the United States Geological Survey (USGS)
• Shows Houma and the surrounding landscape in the 1960s
• Useful for comparing historic land use, urban expansion, and environmental change with the present day
• Urban areas are highlighted in red
• Forested areas are shown in green
• Rivers and water systems are depicted in blue
• Contour lines indicate elevation changes and terrain features
• Includes natural features, transportation routes, developed areas, and land uses of the period

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.

Every piece is printed to museum-grade archival standards using fade-resistant pigment inks on acid-free matte paper. Choose an unframed map print, framed map or canvas using the finish options above. Framed maps use crystal-clear optical acrylic and arrive ready to hang.

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.