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How are U.S. Geological Survey topographic maps named? A USGS topographic map is usually named for the most prominent feature within the bounds of the map, frequently a community. Most topographic maps are named for the most centrally located, well-known, and/or largest community labeled on the map.
Feb 11, 2008 · How are U.S. Geological Survey topographic maps named? Topographic maps published by the U.S. Geological Survey generally are named for the most centrally located and/or well-known or largest community named on the map. Note that the largest, most well known community may not be centrally located.
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has been the primary civilian mapping agency of the United States since 1879. Some of the most well-known USGS maps are the 1:24,000-scale topographic maps, also called 7.5-minute quadrangles .
Topographic maps originally were produced to support a geological survey of the western United States (Powell, 1888). But they quickly became popular with many other disciplines and with the general public because of their usefulness for viewing and studying the Nation’s vast landscape (U.S. Geological Survey, 2010a, 2010b).
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Building on the success of 125 years of mapping, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) created US Topo, a geo-referenced digital map produced from The National Map (TNM) data. US Topo maps are designed to be used like the traditional 7.5-minute quadrangle paper topographic maps for which the USGS is so well known.
Each map quadrangle is constructed in GeoPDF® format using key layers of geographic data (orthoimagery, roads, geographic names, topographic contours, and hydrographic features) from The National Map databases.