Loading map...

1956 Map of Gibsonton

Name: 1956 Topographic Map of Gibsonton
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1988
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1988

About this map

Mac Dill Air Force Base occupies the southern tip of the Interbay Peninsula, a strategic military landscape defined by golf courses and hospitals overlooking Tampa Bay. To the east, the shoreline is a complex network of coastal settlements and tidal wetlands where the Alafia River and Bullfrog Cr meet the sea. The residential growth of the late 1950s is visible in the emergence of Apollo Beach and North Ruskin, while established communities like Gibsonton and Gardenville sit inland from the many keys and coves of Hillsborough Bay.

Transportation corridors like the Seaboard Coast Line railroad and Bayshore Blvd link these coastal outposts. The map documents a maritime environment of navigation lights and spoil areas, featuring uniquely named landmarks such as Whiskey Stump Key and Hog and Hominy Cove. This period reflects the transition of the Florida Gulf Coast from a series of isolated fishing and agricultural settlements toward suburban expansion.