1939 Map of Point Washington

About this map

Freeport sits at the head of La Grange Bayou in this mid-1930s survey of Walton County, where the sprawling waters of Choctawhatchee Bay meet a dense network of delta islands and cutoffs. The landscape is defined by the transition from the piney woods around Liberty Sch and the Black Creek Chs to the maritime influences of the Gulf. Along the southern coast, the Gulf Coast Highway tracks a series of coastal dune lakes and nascent beach communities, including Grayton Beach and Seagrove Beach. The eastern reach of the bay dissolves into the complex wetlands of Devils Swamp, where the Mitchell River and Cypress River weave through Bunker Island and Indian Island. This record captures a period when regional travel relied heavily on the relationship between protected bayous like Hogtown Bayou and the open waters of the Gulf of Mexico.