1976 Map of Lake Wylie

About this map

Lake Wylie dominates this mid-1970s orthophotoquad, its intricate, branching shoreline reflecting the drowned topography of the Catawba River valley. This aerial-based perspective, prepared by the Geological Survey in cooperation with North Carolina, provides a unique visual record of the emerging residential and recreational patterns along the South Carolina-North Carolina border. Small communities like Pine Harbor and Five Points are visible amidst the dense forest cover and clearing tracts that define the landscape during this period of transition. The orthophoto format allows for the direct observation of land use, from the wooded slopes of Nanny Mountain to the developing areas near India Hook. Unlike a traditional line-and-tint map, this imagery preserves the exact footprint of forest edges, individual docks, and early subdivision roads as they existed in February 1976, offering a precise look at the environment before further decades of suburban expansion altered the peninsulae of Crowders Creek.