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1994 Map of Pardon Island

Name: 1994 Topographic Map of Pardon Island
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1998
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1998

About this map

Merritt Island sits at the intersection of aerospace history and coastal preservation on this mid-1990s survey. The map details the northern reaches of the John F Kennedy Space Center (NASA), where the high-technology infrastructure of the space program meets the protected marshes and waterways of the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. The narrow barrier strip between Mosquito Lagoon and the Atlantic Ocean is preserved as part of the Canaveral National Seashore, showing a landscape remarkably free of the commercial development found elsewhere on the Florida coast.

Watermen and naturalists will find interest in the intricate maze of estuaries and backwaters, including Pardon Island, Three Cabbage Island, and Widgeon Bay. The survey also marks the boundary between Volusia and Brevard counties, which cuts through the southern end of the lagoon near Pardon Slough. This map documents a unique ecosystem where federal land management has maintained the barrier island's character as it existed decades prior.