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1943 Map of Panama City Beach

Name: 1943 Topographic Map of Panama City Beach
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1943
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1943

About this map

Panama City Beach and the surrounding coastline are documented here in the early 1940s, revealing a landscape of small, nascent beach communities along the Gulf of Mexico. This wartime survey shows concentrated development at Long Beach and Florida Beach, while Betty-Lou Beach sits further west along Route 98. The map highlights the significant geographical contrast between the open Gulf shore and the intricate, marshy northern coastline of West Bay.

Bayous such as Botheration Bayou and Big Johnson Bayou reach inland toward the sandy elevations of the Ridge, while distinct landmarks like Breakfast Point and Pelican Point 2 define the irregular shoreline of the bay. The map's detail provides a look at the coastal infrastructure before the era of high-rise development, including the alignment of the primary highway and the original footprints of these coastal settlements.