Los Angeles, California 1969 Shaded Relief Map

A geologic map's colors are meant to inform, marking each rock formation by age and type — but in a place as tectonically restless as Southern California, that information draws its own kind of picture. The San Gabriel Mountains are laced with faults that have, over millions of years, sliced and shuffled blocks of rock sideways past each other, so on this map the color bands don't just rise and fall with the hills — they cut off abruptly along jagged fault lines, a visible record of the same tectonic motion that still shakes the region today.

California's state geological survey — established in 1880 as the State Mining Bureau and known by 1969 as the Division of Mines and Geology — had spent nearly a century mapping that restless terrain by the time this survey was made. Just northeast of downtown Los Angeles, the San Gabriel Mountains rise abruptly to over 10,000 feet in only a few miles, and it was in the foothill canyons at their base, the Arroyo Seco, that Caltech scientists founded what became NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in the 1930s and 40s, testing the early rockets that eventually helped carry the United States into space.

We georeferenced the original 1969 Los Angeles, CA Geological map and applied modern digital elevation data to add true shaded relief to the landscape. The shading is printed flat on the paper — not raised or textured — so it frames and hangs like any fine art print.

Available with or without clouds, added over the landscape for a surreal effect.

Available unframed, or framed in black or walnut.

Note on legibility: text on the original map is small and can be difficult to read given the map's age. In areas where the relief shading is darkest, the underlying labels are not legible. We recommend the largest available size for the best detail.

FREE SHIPPING on orders to the contiguous US over $49 with UPS ground or USPS to PO Boxes.

Unframed prints - Printed to order and shipped within 2-3 business days
Framed prints - Custom framed and will ship in 3-4 weeks

Full refund on returns of unframed paper prints within 30 days of purchase. Prints must be returned in NEW condition without creases or damage. Please email us at [email protected] for instructions.

If prints are shipped back to us and are not in new condition, we offer a store credit or can return them to you. 

We do NOT ACCEPT returns or exchanges on framed prints or canvas wraps because they are made to order.

Click HERE for more information on shipping and returns.

Made in the USA

We consider our maps to be works of art, so we print and frame them accordingly.

Using award-winning printers with gallery quality fine art paper and inks, our maps will exceed expectations and last a lifetime.

• Archival Paper and Inks
• 100% Cotton, OBA-Free, and Acid-Free
• Heavyweight 21.5 mil
• Certified to last 100 years

Read customer reviews HERE attesting to the quality of our prints.

We use real Walnut for our frames, unlike the lesser quality veneer you will typically find elsewhere. With beautiful hardwood grain, each is handmade to order at a professional frame shop.

• 7/8 inch face and 1 1/2 inch depth
• Acrylite glazing (more clear than glass)
• Acid-free backing paper
• Hanging wire installed