1923 Map of Lopena Island

About this map

Padre Island stretches along the Texas coastline in this early twentieth-century survey, separating the shallow, patterned waters of the Laguna Madre from the open Gulf of Mexico. The landscape is dominated by the dynamic barrier island system, showing the intricate network of sandbars and tidal flats that defined the Kenedy County shore before modern development. Inland, the map identifies the early footprint of regional cattle operations, specifically the Saltillo Ranch and Turida Ranch. These labels provide a record of land use and family holdings in a period when the barrier islands remained largely wild and the coastal economy centered on large-scale ranching. The inclusion of Lopeña Island within the lagoon highlights the specific navigational and geological features surveyed by the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey years before the mid-century reprinting.