1956 Map of Long Island Marsh SW

About this map

Long Island Marsh dominates this landscape on the border of DeSoto and Charlotte counties, representing a hydrologically complex environment of the mid-1950s. The map illustrates a network of drainage features common to this section of Florida, including Cow Slough, Tippen Bay Slough, and the aptly named Rattlesnake Gully. The presence of a Flowing Well near the edge of the Prairie suggests early efforts to manage water for agricultural or ranching purposes in an otherwise inundated terrain. This survey reflects the region before modern drainage and development significantly altered the natural flow of water toward the coast, capturing a period when names like Tippen Bay and Myrtle Slough defined the local geography.