Published in 1943 by the United States Geological Survey, “Apalachicola” presents Florida’s Gulf Coast at the detailed 1:31,680 scale, capturing the meeting of river, bay, barrier island, and open sea. The map centers on Apalachicola, a storied port at the mouth of the Apalachicola River system, long associated with timber, shipping, and the oyster fisheries that made its bay famous. Its wartime date gives the sheet particular resonance: it records roads, railways, shorelines, settlements, and working waterfronts at a moment when coastal geography held strategic as well as economic importance. The result is both a technical survey and a historical portrait of a community shaped by tides, commerce, and the abundant estuarine waters of Apalachicola Bay.

The USGS style is immediately recognizable: precise, restrained, and deeply informative. A clear grid system aids orientation, while contour lines and shaded relief translate the low, subtle topography of the Florida Panhandle into a legible visual language. In a coastal landscape where elevation changes are often slight but consequential, such details matter; marsh margins, riverbanks, ridges, roads, and settlement patterns emerge with quiet authority. The map’s topographic treatment reveals not dramatic mountains but the delicate gradations of coastal terrain, where land slowly yields to bay, creek, and gulf. This is cartography designed for use, yet its disciplined composition gives it an austere elegance prized by collectors of American survey mapping.

Apalachicola Bay dominates the geography, its protected waters framed by the mainland and the long barrier form of St. George Island. Eastpoint appears along the bay’s northern shore, positioned within the network of fishing, ferrying, and coastal travel that connected communities across Franklin County. Offshore, the Gulf of Mexico opens beyond the island, while small islands, shoals, channels, and waterways speak to the complexity of navigation in this estuarine environment. The map’s attention to bay features is especially compelling, reflecting an area where livelihoods depended on reading water as carefully as land. Oyster bars, tidal passages, and sheltered reaches formed the environmental foundation for one of America’s most celebrated seafood regions.

Inland and eastward, the sheet situates Apalachicola within a broader regional web that includes Carrabelle, Bay Bay, the Chipola River system, and the roads and railways threading through the coastal plain. These transportation lines are more than incidental markings: they show how timber, seafood, supplies, and people moved through a landscape often defined by wetlands and waterways. The 1943 date places these networks in the context of World War II-era infrastructure, when rail connections, port access, and coastal roads carried heightened importance. Seen today, the map offers a valuable record of development before later expansion, preserving the footprint of settlements and routes at a pivotal moment in the region’s twentieth-century transformation.

The natural world shown here is equally significant. The marshes, islands, bays, and river mouths surrounding Apalachicola would later be recognized as part of one of the most ecologically important estuarine landscapes in the United States, including areas now associated with the Apalachicola National Estuarine Research Reserve. The map predates that modern conservation language, but it documents the same intricate environment: brackish waters, coastal flats, barrier island systems, and the river-fed bay that sustains extraordinary biodiversity. Its careful notation of landforms and waterways allows the viewer to trace the relationship between human settlement and coastal ecology. As a historical map, it is both a practical survey and a quietly powerful record of a living Gulf Coast landscape.

Cities, towns and places on this map

• Apalachicola
• Eastpoint
• St. George Island
• Gulf of Mexico
• Bay Bay
• Carrabelle
• Apalachicola Bay
• Chipola River
• Apalachicola National Estuarine Research Reserve
• Various roads and railways throughout the area
• Franklin County parks and coastal features
• Small islands and waterways noted in the bay area

Historical context & cartographic details

• Produced by the United States Geological Survey, this historical topographical map is dated 1943.
• The map is drawn at a scale of 1:31,680.
• Published by the United States Geological Survey (USGS), a federal agency known for mapping and assessing the natural resources and natural hazards of the United States.
• Shows Apalachicola and the surrounding area in Florida during the World War II era.
• Provides insight into the geographic and infrastructural development of the region in the early 1940s.
• Highlights Apalachicola’s coastal setting and its historical association with seafood production, especially oysters.
• Uses a grid system for orientation, typical of USGS topographical maps.
• Includes shaded relief to show elevation and landform variation.
• Features detailed contour lines representing changes in elevation across coastal and bay terrain.
• Documents roads, railways, settlement patterns, and land-use features from the period.

Looking for a particular place? Review the detailed images to confirm that the town, landmark or feature you have in mind appears on the map. If you are unsure, ask our workshop to check before you order.

Detailed maps are especially rewarding at larger sizes, where names, boundaries and decorative features have more room to be appreciated. Use the close-up preview and size guide to choose the right scale for your wall.

This map looks amazing at sizes all the way up to 50in (125cm). If you are looking for a larger map, please get in touch.

The model in the listing images is holding the 16x20in (40x50cm) version of this map.

Where personalisation is available, you can add a short title or dedication, mark one meaningful place, or request one considered visual detail. See personalised map examples.

Every piece is printed to museum-grade archival standards using fade-resistant pigment inks on acid-free matte paper. Choose an unframed map print, framed map or canvas using the finish options above. Framed maps use crystal-clear optical acrylic and arrive ready to hang.

With its rich detail and strong sense of place, this map makes a considered gift for a new home, anniversary, retirement or anyone with a personal connection to the area shown. Still deciding? Explore our collection of rare old and vintage maps to discover another place, period or style.

This map is also available as a float framed canvas, sometimes known as a shadow gap framed canvas or canvas floater. The map is printed on artist's cotton canvas and then stretched over a handmade box frame. We then "float" the canvas inside a wooden frame, which is available in a range of colours (black, dark brown, oak, antique gold and white). This is a wonderful way to present a map without glazing in front. See some examples of float framed canvas maps and explore the differences between my different finishes.

For something truly unique, this map is also available in "Unique 3D", our trademarked process that dramatically transforms the map so that it has a wonderful sense of depth. We combine the original map with detailed topography and elevation data, so that mountains and the terrain really "pop". For more info and examples of 3D maps, check my Unique 3D page.