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1957 Map of Pensacola

Name: 1957 Topographic Map of Pensacola
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1973
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1973

About this map

NAS Pensacola and the sprawling training complexes of NAS Whiting (North) and NAS Whiting (South) anchor the coastal defense landscape of the Florida Panhandle and southern Alabama. This mid-century survey captures the region's intense military footprint, from the massive Eglin Air Force Base in the east to the strategic shoreline of Santa Rosa Island. The transition from the developed waterfronts of Pensacola and Fort Walton Beach to the dense woodlands of the Blackwater River State Forest highlights the dual nature of the Gulf Coast as both a tactical hub and a natural resource.

Inland, the economic lifelines of the era are defined by the Louisville and Nashville and St Louis - San Francisco railroads, which connected agricultural centers like Bay Minette and Crestview to the deep-water ports. The newly refined Intracoastal Waterway winds through Bon Secour Bay and Perdido Bay, marking the 20th-century expansion of commercial shipping and recreational access that would soon transform the shoreline near Gulf Shores and Orange Beach.