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1944 Map of Pickett Bay

Name: 1944 Topographic Map of Pickett Bay
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1944
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1944

About this map

Tates Hell Swamp Military Reservation dominates this coastal Florida landscape, a massive expanse of wetlands and waterways mapped during the height of the Second World War. The drainage patterns of the New River and Crooked River define the local geography, converging near the northeastern corner of St James Island. A significant marker of local change is visible at Harbeson City (abandoned), where the former settlement is already noted as deserted by 1944.

The map details the intricate network of the Franklin County coast, including Pickett Bay and numerous family-named or descriptive water features like Waldon Lake, Thompson Cutoff, and the curious Sunday Rollaway. The presence of several wells throughout the reservation and along the riverbanks suggests the ongoing importance of groundwater management in this saturated environment during the mid-1940s.