Loading map...

1952 Map of Oceanville

Name: 1952 Topographic Map of Oceanville
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1969
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1969

About this map

Galloway township’s coastal landscape is defined by an intricate network of salt marshes and tidal thoroughfares in the years following the Second World War. The marshy expanse of the Brigantine National Wildlife Refuge dominates the eastern half of the sheet, where complex waterways like Steelman Thorofare and Wills Thorofare snake through Reeds Bay. Small upland settlements such as Smithville, Leeds Point, and Oceanville sit on the higher ground along the historic corridor of U.S. Highway 9.

Transit infrastructure of the early 1950s is highly visible, featuring the Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Lines and the emerging path of the Garden State Parkway. To the south, the map shows the early development of Brigantine and the industrial activity near Absecon Inlet, including a Seaplane Base and the 44th Street Pier. This survey records a specific moment when coastal New Jersey's traditional fishing and hunting grounds were increasingly becoming structured by modern highway and rail connections.