1918 Map of Kiawah Island

About this map

Kiawah Island is captured here as a largely undeveloped barrier island during the First World War, defined by its primary thoroughfare, Avenue Road, and the intricate marshes of the Kiawah River. The shoreline reaches out to Sandy Point in the east, where the land fragments into a series of smaller landforms like Cinder Point and Eagle Point near the mouth of Bass Creek. This 1:21,120 scale survey, produced by the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the War Department, provides an exacting look at the coastal topography before modern resort development altered the landscape. To the north, the southern edge of Johns Island is visible across the river, while the vast expanse of the Atlantic Ocean dominates the southern half of the sheet, illustrating the isolation of this sea island at the time of the survey.