1958 Map of Belle Meade NE

About this map

Big Corkscrew Island and the surrounding wetlands of Collier County dominate this mid-century landscape. Based on aerial photography from the early 1950s and planetable surveys from 1958, the map illustrates an environment defined by seasonal water and island-like hammocks. The presence of a lone Camp and the naming of Stumpy Strand and Curry Island point to the area's use by hunters or early explorers before significant drainage and development reached this section of the Florida interior. These features, along with several benchmark elevations like BM 14, provide a rare look at the original topographical structure of the Big Cypress region during a period when many land lines remained unsurveyed or were only established by private survey.