1953 Map of Brighton NW

About this map

The boundary between Highlands and Glades Counties cuts through a landscape defined by industrial water management and sprawling wetlands in the early 1950s. This drainage infrastructure is anchored by the Indian Prairie Canal and the Harney Pond Canal, which represent the massive mid-century efforts by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to control the Florida Everglades' watershed. These engineered waterways contrast sharply with the natural features they navigate, such as the expansive Bay Swamp and the isolated rise of Cabbage Island. The presence of numerous spoil banks and levees alongside Canal C-41 and Canal C-40 reveals the scale of earth-moving required to reclaim this marshland for agricultural or water-control purposes. This survey captures a specific phase of Florida's environmental transformation before later development further altered the region's hydrology.