1970 Map of Belle Glade

About this map

Belle Glade and South Bay sit at the intersection of agriculture and engineering, defined by the massive water control structures bordering Lake Okeechobee. The 1970 landscape is a geometric grid of muck-soil fields and drainage canals, including the Hillsboro Canal and North Coast Canal. This orthophoto provides a rare visual of the land use patterns near the Everglades Experiment Station and the industrial scale of the regional sugar and vegetable operations. The town center of Belle Glade shows established community institutions like Belle Glade High Sch and Gladeview Sch, while the Herbert Hoover Dyke stands as a massive barrier between the cultivated fields and the open waters of Pelican Bay. Further inland, the Florida East Coast railway serves the specialized agricultural outposts at Runyon and Dahlberg.