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1981 Map of Cape Canaveral

Name: 1981 Topographic Map of Cape Canaveral
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1983
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1983

About this map

John F Kennedy Space Center (NASA) and the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station dominate the barrier island landscape of Brevard County in the early 1980s. This survey illustrates the dense concentration of aerospace and military infrastructure alongside expansive conservation areas like the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge and the Tosohatchee State Preserve. The coastal corridor is highly developed, showing a continuous string of beach communities from Cocoa Beach down to Melbourne Beach, separated from the mainland by the Banana River and Indian River.

Further inland, the map captures the hydrological transition toward the St Johns River basin, marked by a chain of major lakes including Lake Poinsett, Lake Winder, and Lake Washington. The presence of the Bee Line Expressway and the Florida East Coast railroad lines highlights the transport networks that fueled the region's growth. Local landmarks such as the Merritt Island School and Melbourne Regional Airport ground the high-tech space coast in its residential and civic foundations.