Sectional Map of Florida

Massive map of Florida issued during the peak of the statewide 1920s Land Boom

This detailed sectional map captures Florida at the height of its historic 1920s Land Boom. Published by the State Department of Agriculture in 1925 and printed by the renowned Matthews-Northrup Works of Buffalo, New York, the map serves as an official overview of a landscape undergoing rapid economic and physical transformation. The primary map provides a dense, structured view of the peninsula, delineating individual townships and an extensive network of infrastructure alongside hundreds of local toponyms for settlements and geographical features.

The map acts as an important primary record of the era’s aggressive industrial and environmental engineering. Operational railroads are meticulously tracked, using solid lines for completed tracks and dashed lines for routes under construction, illustrating the competitive expansion of lines like the Florida East Coast and Atlantic Coast Line railways. Furthermore, reflecting the state’s push to reclaim southern wetlands for agriculture and real estate, the map outlines the limits of the Everglades, the boundaries of the Everglades Drainage District, and a network of arterial canals. Automobile infrastructure is highlighted via a smaller inset titled “Florida Road Conditions Map.” This inset provides a vivid snapshot of early highway development just before the implementation of the uniform federal numbering system, which categorized roads into four distinct surface types: Hard, Semi-hard, Graded, and Unimproved.

The lower left third of the sheet is occupied by a comprehensive index that provides a statistical anchor to the cartographic data. It includes an alphabetical place-name index, a county-by-county breakdown of demographics and major industries, a farm census, and tables tracking explosive statewide population growth and escalating real estate values. Collectively, the various elements present a tempting invitation to vacationers, farmers, entrepreneurs, and more. A definitive, “boom-era” document illustrating how state officials promoted Florida as a structured, rapidly modernizing frontier ripe for investment, agriculture, and leisure. This unprecedented boom, however, was spectacularly short-lived. By mid-1926, the market collapsed entirely under the weight of wild real estate speculation, a devastating shipping embargo, and the catastrophic Great Miami Hurricane in September.