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1972 Map of Kedges Straits

Name: 1972 Topographic Map of Kedges Straits
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1987
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1987

About this map

Smith Island and the fragments of Holland Island dominate this 1970s orthophotomap, which uses aerial photography to depict the shifting marshes and waterways of the Chesapeake Bay. The landscape is defined by the encroaching waters of Tangier Sound and the Holland Straits, showing the precarious state of these low-lying islands. Navigational markers like the Solomons Lump Lighthouse and the Holland Island Bar Lighthouse sit amidst the shoals, while the interior of the islands reveals a network of tidal guts and ridges, including Joes Ridge and Noah Ridge.

Conservation efforts are evident in the Martin National Wildlife Refuge, which encompasses much of the southern marshland. The map documents numerous family-named points and coves, such as Abrahams Pt and Johnson Pt, alongside the Big Thorofare River West Light. This record of the Maryland shoreline at the start of the 1970s illustrates the persistent erosion of the Holland Island Bar, providing a baseline for environmental historians and genealogists studying these coastal communities.