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Pastoral Maps of Australia: Stations, Stock Routes and Rural History

by Christopher O'Keeffe June 28, 2026

Pastoral Maps of Australia: Stations, Stock Routes and Rural History

Pastoral maps reveal an Australia shaped by stations, leases, stock routes, rivers, railways and extraordinary distances. They record not only where rural properties were located, but how livestock, people, water and commerce moved across the country.

Few maps tell the story of inland Australia as powerfully as a pastoral map.

A conventional road map focuses on getting from one town to another.

A topographic map explains the form of the land.

A cadastral map records parcels and boundaries.

A pastoral map brings several of these worlds together.

Depending on its date and purpose, it may show:

  • pastoral stations

  • property or lease names

  • station boundaries

  • homesteads

  • stock routes

  • roads and tracks

  • railway lines

  • stockyards

  • artesian bores

  • tanks and watering points

  • rivers and creeks

  • regional divisions

  • national parks and reserves

  • major geographical features

These maps record the working geography of rural Australia.

They show properties that became known across enormous districts, routes along which sheep and cattle were driven, and transport networks connecting inland production with railheads, ports and markets.

For station families, rural communities and local historians, the names on a pastoral map can be deeply personal.

For researchers, they provide evidence of settlement, land tenure, transport and economic change.

For interior designers and collectors, they are visually compelling documents whose typography, colour and cartographic detail give them a character very different from an ordinary decorative map.

Mapworld’s pastoral range brings together both modern national mapping and carefully reproduced historical maps, including works by Terrence Alick, H.E.C. Robinson and Australian government survey departments.

Explore Mapworld’s wider Historical Wall Maps collection.


What Is a Pastoral Map?

A pastoral map is a map created to show land used principally for grazing livestock—especially sheep and cattle.

The precise content varies according to:

  • the period in which it was produced

  • the state or territory covered

  • the publisher

  • the intended audience

  • the available land and survey records

Some pastoral maps concentrate on the names and boundaries of stations.

Others emphasise:

  • pastoral leases

  • stock routes

  • rail connections

  • trucking points

  • water infrastructure

  • land districts

  • government reserves

  • routes to ports and markets

These maps were practical working documents.

They helped people understand who occupied the country, how properties related to one another and how livestock could be moved through immense rural districts.

Today, they also serve as historical records of a landscape that has changed through:

  • subdivision

  • amalgamation

  • changed tenure

  • altered station names

  • resumed leases

  • expanding towns

  • new roads

  • conservation reserves

  • agricultural development

A pastoral map therefore captures a particular moment.

It should not be treated as a current legal property map, but it can provide an extraordinary starting point for understanding rural history.


What Is a Pastoral Station?

A pastoral station is a large rural property primarily used for grazing livestock.

Depending on its location and history, it may be known as:

  • a cattle station

  • a sheep station

  • a run

  • a pastoral lease

  • a holding

  • a property

The scale of Australian stations varies enormously.

In more closely settled regions, pastoral properties may sit among farms, towns and developed road networks.

In northern and inland Australia, a cattle station can extend across an area larger than many cities or small countries.

Station identity has historically centred on more than a formal land parcel.

It may include:

  • the homestead

  • outstations

  • bores

  • tanks

  • dams

  • stockyards

  • shearing sheds

  • access tracks

  • paddocks

  • river frontages

  • family and working history

This is why station names carry such significance.

A name printed on a map can connect generations of owners, managers, stockmen, shearers, drovers, cooks, mechanics and families with a particular piece of country.


Why Pastoral Maps Matter

Pastoral maps occupy a special place between cartography and social history.

They record several layers of Australian life at once.

Rural Settlement

Station names show where pastoral occupation was concentrated and how the inland was divided into working properties.

Economic History

Wool, beef and other livestock industries were central to the development of many Australian districts.

Pastoral maps show the geographic structure behind those industries.

Transport History

Stock routes, railway lines, roads and trucking yards reveal how livestock and supplies moved.

Water History

Bores, tanks, rivers and creeks were fundamental to pastoral development, particularly in arid and semi-arid country.

Family History

Station names can help researchers locate family connections that may not appear in ordinary town or road maps.

Cartographic History

The maps preserve the lettering, colour, symbols and composition used by Australian mapmakers during different periods.

Regional Identity

Many properties became important reference points across districts where the nearest major town might be hundreds of kilometres away.


Stock Routes: The Arteries of Pastoral Australia

Before livestock could routinely be transported by modern road trains, cattle and sheep were often moved on foot.

The routes used for this movement became known as:

  • stock routes

  • travelling stock routes

  • droving routes

  • stock roads

These routes connected:

  • stations

  • watering points

  • railheads

  • sale yards

  • meatworks

  • ports

  • neighbouring pastoral districts

The location of a stock route was shaped by practical necessity.

Livestock needed:

  • access to water

  • pasture during the journey

  • manageable terrain

  • legal passage

  • places to camp

  • connections to markets and transport

Many routes followed rivers, creeks, established trails and earlier pathways through country.

Queensland’s stock-route network developed over more than 150 years, with routes becoming formally recognised and dedicated as roads during the second half of the nineteenth century.

They were not merely lines connecting two places.

They formed an interconnected rural transport system.

Even today, sections of the network remain important for:

  • travelling livestock

  • emergency agistment

  • grazing

  • biodiversity

  • remnant vegetation

  • cultural heritage

  • water and communication infrastructure

Historical stock-route maps allow us to see that network at the height of the droving and railway eras.


Pastoral Maps and First Nations Country

Historical pastoral maps document a particular colonial system of land occupation and administration.

The station and lease boundaries shown on them were imposed across Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Country with much older systems of:

  • custodianship

  • language

  • movement

  • trade

  • ceremony

  • land management

  • cultural responsibility

Many stock routes followed watercourses, pathways and travel corridors known and used by First Nations peoples long before pastoral settlement.

Aboriginal stockmen, drovers, domestic workers, guides, trackers and station families also made an immense contribution to the operation of the pastoral industry, particularly across northern and inland Australia.

Pastoral maps are therefore valuable records, but they are not complete accounts of the land’s history.

They should be viewed alongside:

  • Indigenous mapping

  • oral histories

  • language maps

  • local community records

  • station archives

  • government and mission records

  • contemporary Aboriginal perspectives

The presence of a lease boundary on an old map does not erase the deeper cultural geography beneath it.


Modern and Historical Pastoral Maps

Mapworld’s pastoral-map range contains two broad types of map.

Modern Pastoral Reference Maps

A modern pastoral map attempts to bring a large number of properties together in a current or relatively recent national overview.

It is particularly useful for:

  • identifying stations

  • rural business

  • transport and logistics

  • regional reference

  • station offices

  • comparing pastoral regions across state borders

Historical Pastoral Maps

Historical maps preserve station patterns, lease divisions and transport infrastructure from a particular year.

They are best suited to:

  • family history

  • local research

  • museum display

  • historical comparison

  • station heritage

  • interior decoration

  • collecting

The distinction matters.

A map from 1919 or 1945 may show a station name of great historical importance, but it should not be assumed to represent present ownership, boundaries or access.


Australian Pastoral Station Supermap by Terrence Alick

The Best National Pastoral Map of Australia

The Australian Pastoral Station Supermap by Terrence Alick is one of the best-known national maps of Australia’s pastoral country.

Created through decades of research by Rosemary and Terrence Alick, the map has become a familiar presence in:

  • station homesteads

  • rural offices

  • boarding houses

  • transport businesses

  • libraries

  • government buildings

  • regional community spaces

The 2020 edition brings together more than 4,000 property names across Australia.

It shows:

  • cattle and sheep stations

  • pastoral boundaries

  • homesteads

  • roads

  • railway lines

  • watercourses

  • state forests

  • national parks

  • reserves

  • major cadastral and geographic features

At approximately 1540 × 1200 mm and a scale of 1:3,000,000, it is a true Supermap.

It provides enough physical space for the density of station names while still showing the continental relationship between pastoral regions.

Why the Terrence Alick Map Is Different

Most state pastoral maps stop at the border.

The Terrence Alick map allows the viewer to see the national pattern.

It reveals:

  • the density of properties in eastern Australia

  • the immense scale of northern cattle stations

  • the broad pastoral zones of inland Western Australia

  • the relationship between stations, roads and watercourses

  • how rural property patterns change across the continent

This makes it especially useful for:

  • livestock and agricultural businesses

  • rural transport and logistics

  • station suppliers

  • family and station research

  • regional education

  • anyone with connections across more than one state

It is available in paper and laminated finishes, with limited quantities offered through Mapworld.


H.E.C. Robinson and Australian Pastoral Cartography

Several of Mapworld’s most important historical pastoral maps were originally produced by H.E.C. Robinson.

H.E.C. Robinson was a major Australian commercial map publisher during the twentieth century.

The firm produced a remarkable range of:

  • road maps

  • city maps

  • wall maps

  • military maps

  • tourist maps

  • pastoral maps

  • reference maps

Its pastoral maps remain particularly significant because they combined clear cartography with detailed property naming.

The maps were designed to be both practical and readable.

Station names, regional divisions and boundaries were organised into a coherent visual hierarchy, allowing an extraordinary amount of rural information to be placed on one sheet.

Original H.E.C. Robinson maps are now held in major library and archival collections.

Mapworld’s reproductions allow these important documents to be displayed and studied without exposing an original antique map to repeated handling or light.


New South Wales Pastoral Stations 1919

The New South Wales Pastoral Stations 1919 map by H.E.C. Robinson captures New South Wales during a formative period of rural expansion and economic change.

The map records:

  • pastoral station names

  • property patterns

  • boundaries

  • regional divisions

  • transport connections

  • geographical context

Its 1919 date is significant.

The map presents New South Wales immediately after the First World War, when wool, sheep, wheat, railways and regional settlement remained central to the state’s economy.

For family historians, it can help identify properties associated with:

  • pastoral families

  • station employees

  • wool production

  • rural businesses

  • regional communities

For local historians, it provides a statewide framework into which smaller district histories can be placed.

Vintage map of New South Wales showing pastoral stations on a yellowed paper background.

The map is available in two sizes:

  • 1000 × 700 mm

  • 1360 × 980 mm

Available finishes include paper, laminated and archival canvas, with selected timber hang-rail options.


Queensland Pastoral Stations 1920

The Queensland Pastoral Stations 1920 map by H.E.C. Robinson presents a state whose pastoral economy extended across immense distances.

Queensland’s grazing regions included:

  • the Darling Downs

  • the Maranoa

  • the Channel Country

  • Central Queensland

  • the Gulf Country

  • Cape York

  • the tropical north

The map documents the distribution of pastoral stations and holdings across these contrasting environments.

Queensland Pastoral Stations 1920 H.E.C Robinson Wall Map | Mapworld

It provides a particularly valuable reference for people researching:

  • historic cattle and sheep stations

  • family properties

  • rural settlement

  • early twentieth-century Queensland

  • the relationship between pastoral districts and transport

The map’s near-square proportions allow Queensland’s great north–south extent to be displayed at a generous scale.

Available sizes are:

  • 1000 × 976 mm

  • 1200 × 1164 mm

It is offered in paper, laminated and canvas finishes.


Victoria Pastoral Stations 1927

The Victoria Pastoral Stations 1927 map by H.E.C. Robinson captures rural Victoria during the interwar period.

Victoria Pastoral Stations 1927 map by H.E.C. Robinson

Victoria’s pastoral geography differs greatly from that of the Northern Territory or Western Australia.

The state had:

  • denser settlement

  • smaller properties

  • established railway networks

  • closer relationships between pastoralism and agriculture

  • substantial regional towns

  • long-developed wool districts

The map shows how station identity remained important even within a more closely settled landscape.

Victoria Pastoral Stations 1927 H.E.C Robinson Wall Map | Mapworld

It is particularly relevant to:

  • Victorian family historians

  • wool-industry researchers

  • local historical societies

  • regional museums

  • descendants of station families

  • collectors of interwar Australian mapping

Available sizes are:

  • 690 × 1010 mm

  • 980 × 1390 mm

Finishes include paper, laminated, canvas and selected versions with timber hang rails.


Northern Territory Pastoral Stations 1945

The Northern Territory Pastoral Stations 1945 map by H.E.C. Robinson presents the pastoral structure of the Territory at the close of the Second World War.

It shows:

  • station names

  • pastoral lease boundaries

  • regional divisions

  • access lines

  • rivers and waterways

  • the relationship between properties and immense distances

Northern Territory pastoral maps are especially evocative because station names occupy such vast areas.

Water, access and distance were decisive.

A property could be separated from the nearest railhead, port or town by hundreds of kilometres.

Northern Territory Pastoral Stations 1945 H.E.C Robinson

The map provides a valuable record of the Territory before later:

  • lease consolidation

  • road development

  • modern freight transport

  • changing land administration

  • expansion of conservation areas

Available sizes are:

  • 740 × 1010 mm

  • 980 × 1400 mm

The map is available in paper, laminated and canvas finishes, with optional timber hang rails.


South Australia Pastoral Stations 1948

The South Australia Pastoral Stations 1948 map by H.E.C. Robinson records the state’s pastoral geography in the immediate postwar period.

South Australia presents a sharp contrast between:

  • the settled agricultural south

  • the Flinders Ranges

  • the pastoral north

  • the arid interior

  • the great inland lake systems

The map identifies pastoral stations, leases and regional divisions across this varied landscape.

South Australia Pastoral Stations 1948 H.E.C Robinson Wall Map | Mapworld

Its value lies partly in showing how settlement thins as the map moves north from Adelaide and the agricultural districts into pastoral country.

It is suited to:

  • South Australian historical collections

  • station-family research

  • Flinders Ranges and outback studies

  • libraries and museums

  • agricultural and pastoral offices

  • heritage interiors

Available sizes are:

  • 690 × 1010 mm

  • 980 × 1390 mm

It can be ordered in paper, laminated or canvas, with ready-to-hang timber-rail options.


Queensland Stock Routes and Pastoral Map 1893

A Map of Movement, Water and Rail

The Queensland Stock Routes and Pastoral Wall Map 1893 looks beyond the boundaries of individual properties.

It shows the network that allowed the pastoral economy to function.

Its features include:

  • stock routes

  • main roads

  • railway lines

  • principal railway stations

  • stock-trucking yards

  • government artesian bores

  • tanks

  • pastoral infrastructure

The presence of water points is especially important.

Moving large mobs through dry country required dependable access to water.

Bores, tanks, rivers and creeks helped determine which routes were practical.

Railways also transformed the system.

Queensland Stock Routes & Pastoral Wall Map 1893

Livestock could be walked from a station to a loading point and then transported towards:

  • sale yards

  • processing centres

  • ports

  • metropolitan markets

The map is therefore not simply a pastoral-property map.

It is a map of how Queensland’s livestock economy moved.

At approximately 720 × 1000 mm, it is available in paper, laminated, canvas and timber hang-rail formats.


Western Australia Stock Routes and Pastoral Map 1904

The Western Australia Stock Routes and Pastoral Wall Map 1904 captures the state at the beginning of the twentieth century.

Originally associated with Western Australia’s Department of Lands and Surveys, the map shows:

  • pastoral leases

  • stock routes

  • station and property information

  • administrative divisions

  • topographic context

  • inland water and geographic features

The map reveals the extraordinary challenge of moving stock across Western Australia.

Distances were immense.

Routes had to connect remote pastoral country with:

  • ports

  • railways

  • towns

  • markets

  • more closely settled districts

The stock routes appear as lines across a landscape otherwise dominated by enormous leases and sparse infrastructure.

Western Australia Stock Routes & Pastoral Wall Map 1904

They show that pastoral Australia was not simply a collection of isolated stations.

It was a network.

The map measures approximately 680 × 1000 mm and is available in paper, laminated, canvas and timber hang-rail formats.


Comparing the Mapworld Pastoral Collection

Map Date Coverage Principal focus
Australian Pastoral Station Supermap by Terrence Alick 2020 Australia More than 4,000 stations and properties
Queensland Stock Routes & Pastoral Map 1893 Queensland Stock routes, railways, yards, bores and tanks
Western Australia Stock Routes & Pastoral Map 1904 Western Australia Pastoral leases and stock routes
New South Wales Pastoral Stations 1919 New South Wales Stations and postwar rural settlement
Queensland Pastoral Stations 1920 Queensland Statewide pastoral holdings and districts
Victoria Pastoral Stations 1927 Victoria Interwar station pattern and rural settlement
Northern Territory Pastoral Stations 1945 Northern Territory Pastoral leases at the end of WWII
South Australia Pastoral Stations 1948 South Australia Postwar stations, leases and regional divisions

What Can You Learn from a Pastoral Map?

Pastoral maps reward close examination.

They can reveal much more than a list of property names.

The Size of Stations

Large lease areas often indicate:

  • low rainfall

  • lower carrying capacity

  • dependence on extensive grazing

  • long distances between water sources

Smaller properties may reflect:

  • closer settlement

  • better rainfall

  • more intensive land use

  • subdivision

  • access to transport and markets

The Importance of Water

Rivers, creeks, bores and tanks often explain:

  • station location

  • stock-route alignment

  • property boundaries

  • settlement patterns

The Influence of Railways

Railways shaped where livestock could be loaded, where towns grew and how quickly products could reach markets.

Changing Property Names

Comparing maps from different years can reveal:

  • renamed stations

  • subdivided properties

  • merged leases

  • resumed land

  • vanished homesteads

Regional Economic Patterns

The concentration of pastoral holdings shows how different parts of Australia developed around:

  • wool

  • beef

  • mixed grazing

  • agricultural settlement

  • transport corridors


Pastoral Maps for Family History

Pastoral maps can be exceptionally useful in genealogical research.

A family record may mention only:

  • a station name

  • a district

  • a railway siding

  • a nearby river

  • a pastoral employer

The station may no longer operate under the same name.

It may have been absorbed into another property or subdivided into several holdings.

A historical pastoral map can help establish:

  • where the station was located

  • which properties surrounded it

  • the nearest town or railway

  • the relevant administrative district

  • possible transport routes

Once the property has been located, researchers can continue with:

  • electoral rolls

  • directories

  • station records

  • newspaper archives

  • land records

  • pastoral-company archives

  • local historical societies

  • family photographs and correspondence

A pastoral map does not answer every family-history question.

It places the story on the ground.


Pastoral Maps for Rural Businesses

A modern pastoral map can also have practical commercial value.

It may be useful to businesses serving:

  • livestock producers

  • agricultural suppliers

  • fencing contractors

  • rural transport

  • veterinary services

  • bore and water services

  • machinery suppliers

  • telecommunications

  • energy

  • mining and exploration

  • regional government

A large national or state pastoral map provides an immediate visual understanding of:

  • station distribution

  • regional relationships

  • road access

  • service areas

  • customer locations

  • operational distances

The Terrence Alick national map is especially useful where business relationships extend across several states.

A laminated version can be used with suitable whiteboard markers and map dots for:

  • territory planning

  • customer identification

  • transport scheduling

  • project discussion

  • regional sales management


Pastoral Maps as Wall Art

Pastoral maps have a visual presence that is difficult to reproduce with ordinary decorative prints.

They combine:

  • complex linework

  • traditional lettering

  • restrained colour

  • distinctive property names

  • historical borders

  • rivers and transport lines

  • the recognisable outline of a state or territory

They are especially well suited to:

  • station homesteads

  • rural offices

  • farmhouses

  • studies

  • libraries

  • boardrooms

  • restaurants and hotels

  • museums

  • council buildings

  • regional schools

The closer one stands, the more names and stories emerge.

From across a room, the map reads as a strong historical composition.

This combination of detail and visual authority makes pastoral maps particularly effective as meaningful wall art.


Choosing the Right Pastoral Map

Choose the Terrence Alick Australian Map When:

  • you need national coverage

  • you want a more recent station reference

  • you have connections across several states

  • the map will be used in a rural business or station office

  • you want a large-format Australian centrepiece

Choose an H.E.C. Robinson State Map When:

  • a family or property history centres on one state

  • you want a map from a particular historical period

  • station names and lease patterns are the main interest

  • the map will form part of a local-history collection

Choose a Stock-Route Map When:

  • droving history is important

  • you are researching livestock movement

  • railway links and water points matter

  • you want to understand the infrastructure connecting stations with markets

Build a Collection When:

  • your family moved between several states

  • a pastoral business operated nationally

  • you are creating a rural-history display

  • a school or museum wants to compare regional development

  • you want to show change over time


Paper, Laminated or Canvas?

Mapworld’s historical pastoral maps are available in a selection of finishes, depending on the title.

Paper

Paper is best for:

  • professional framing under glass

  • archival-style presentation

  • collectors

  • libraries

  • detailed close viewing

Mapworld’s historical reproductions are generally printed on high-quality matte stock for clear linework and controlled colour.

Laminated

Lamination is best for:

  • station offices

  • schools

  • public areas

  • rural businesses

  • repeated handling

  • planning and marking

A laminated map can generally be wiped clean and used with suitable whiteboard markers.

Laminated with Timber Hang Rails

This option provides:

  • a ready-to-hang finish

  • easy installation

  • durability

  • a practical alternative to conventional framing

Please allow up to 10 working days for delivery of hang-railed maps, as each one is professionally mounted by Mapworld’s framer.

Archival Canvas

Canvas is best for:

  • premium residential interiors

  • boardrooms

  • homesteads

  • heritage displays

  • gallery-style presentation

Mapworld uses 395 gsm HP Professional Matte Canvas with pigment-based inks for historical canvas reproductions.

Canvas with Timber Hang Rails

Canvas with rails combines:

  • texture

  • historical character

  • large-format impact

  • simple hanging

  • a relaxed archival appearance

It is particularly effective with nineteenth- and early twentieth-century pastoral cartography.


Important Limitations of Historical Pastoral Maps

Historical maps must be used according to their purpose.

They should not be relied upon to determine:

  • present ownership

  • current lease boundaries

  • legal property boundaries

  • road access

  • public access rights

  • current station names

  • modern infrastructure

  • navigation safety

Boundaries may have changed substantially since publication.

Roads and tracks may:

  • no longer exist

  • be privately controlled

  • have different names

  • be unsuitable for travel

  • cross restricted land

For legal or operational decisions, consult:

  • current cadastral information

  • state land authorities

  • title records

  • property owners

  • current road information

  • contemporary topographic maps

The historical map remains valuable precisely because it shows what existed at another time.


Why Buy Pastoral Maps from Mapworld?

Mapworld developed from Australia’s largest chain of physical specialist map shops into Australia’s largest online map shop.

Historical and pastoral mapping remains one of the business’s distinctive specialities.

Mapworld’s pastoral range combines:

  • iconic Australian cartography

  • rare and unusual source maps

  • professional high-resolution reproduction

  • large-format printing

  • multiple sizes

  • professional lamination

  • archival canvas

  • timber hang rails

  • national delivery

Many of these maps would be difficult to supply through conventional offset printing.

Mapworld’s print-on-demand production allows historically important maps to remain available even when demand is highly specialised.

Explore:


Final Thoughts

Pastoral maps tell the story of an Australia beyond the cities.

They show station names spread across enormous areas.

They trace stock routes towards water, railway sidings and markets.

They record the boundaries through which governments and pastoral industries organised the land.

They reveal the importance of:

  • livestock

  • water

  • distance

  • transport

  • labour

  • family

  • regional identity

The modern Australian Pastoral Station Supermap by Terrence Alick brings thousands of station names together in one national view.

The historical H.E.C. Robinson maps preserve New South Wales in 1919, Queensland in 1920, Victoria in 1927, the Northern Territory in 1945 and South Australia in 1948.

The Queensland and Western Australian stock-route maps reach further back, revealing the transport and watering networks that sustained nineteenth- and early twentieth-century pastoralism.

Together, these maps form more than a decorative collection.

They form a visual archive of rural Australia.

For station families, they preserve names.

For researchers, they organise evidence.

For regional communities, they record identity.

For future generations, they provide a way to see how the pastoral country was once understood.


Frequently Asked Questions

What is a pastoral map?

A pastoral map shows stations, pastoral leases, property names and related rural features. Some also include stock routes, homesteads, roads, railway lines, bores, tanks and regional divisions.

What is the best pastoral map of Australia?

The Australian Pastoral Station Supermap by Terrence Alick is the strongest national overview. Its 2020 edition contains more than 4,000 property names and covers pastoral regions across Australia.

What is a stock-route map?

A stock-route map shows roads and corridors historically used to move cattle and sheep between stations, water points, railheads, markets and ports.

Are stock routes still used?

Yes. Parts of Australia’s stock-route networks remain in use for moving livestock, grazing and emergency agistment, although modern road transport has greatly reduced traditional long-distance droving.

Who was H.E.C. Robinson?

H.E.C. Robinson was a major Australian commercial map publisher that produced road, city, reference, military and pastoral maps during the twentieth century.

Can pastoral maps help with family history?

Yes. They can help locate a station, identify surrounding properties and establish its relationship to towns, railways, rivers and administrative districts.

Do historical pastoral maps show current property boundaries?

No. They show the boundaries and names recorded around the time of publication. They should not be used as current legal cadastral or title maps.

Why did station names change?

Stations could be renamed, amalgamated, subdivided, resumed or transferred to different forms of tenure. A historic name may no longer appear on a current map.

What does the Queensland 1893 stock-route map show?

It shows stock routes, main roads, railway lines, railway stations, stock-trucking yards, artesian bores, tanks and other infrastructure associated with Queensland’s pastoral transport network.

What does the Western Australia 1904 map show?

It shows pastoral leases and stock routes across Western Australia, together with administrative and geographic context.

Are Mapworld’s pastoral maps originals?

They are high-quality reproductions of historically significant maps unless the product description specifically states otherwise.

Which finish is best for framing?

Paper is normally the best choice for traditional framing under glass.

Which finish is best for a station office?

Laminated maps are durable, easy to clean and suitable for marking with appropriate whiteboard pens.

Which finish creates the strongest decorative effect?

Archival canvas creates a textured, gallery-style result, while canvas with timber hang rails offers a particularly appropriate finish for historical cartography.

Can Mapworld produce a custom map size?

Selected maps can be produced in custom dimensions, subject to the proportions and quality of the original cartography. Contact Mapworld for a custom-size quotation.

How long do maps with timber hang rails take?

Please allow up to 10 working days for hang-railed maps, as each one is professionally mounted by Mapworld’s framer.

Written by Christopher O’Keeffe
Managing Director of Mapworld and specialist in maps, navigation and cartographic products.

Christopher O'Keeffe





Christopher O'Keeffe
Christopher O'Keeffe

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Where to Buy Maps in Australia: The Complete Guide

by Christopher O'Keeffe June 25, 2026

Paper maps are still available in Australia—but finding the right one increasingly depends on knowing where to look. From specialist map retailers and outdoor stores to bookshops, nautical-chart agents and government download services, each supplier serves a different purpose.

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