“Port Boca Grande” presents the southern reaches of Gasparilla Island and the waters that shape this distinctive corner of Florida’s Gulf Coast. Created in 1958 and published with a 1973 imprint, the map preserves a mid-twentieth-century view of Boca Grande at a moment when its identity was balanced between working port, resort village, fishing destination, and fragile barrier-island landscape. The Gulf of Mexico occupies the western margin, while Charlotte Harbor and Boca Grande Pass define the map’s sheltered and navigationally significant eastern and southern waters. In the precise language of the US Geological Survey, beaches, channels, low-lying landforms, and built features are arranged into a clear portrait of a coastline where even subtle elevation changes mattered.

Produced by the US Geological Survey, the map reflects the agency’s celebrated discipline: measured, legible, and rich in practical geographic intelligence. At the 1:24,000 scale, “Port Boca Grande” offers the intimacy of a local survey while retaining the authority of national cartography. Its clean palette—blue for water, green for vegetated land, and contour work for relief—follows the functional elegance of classic USGS topographic design. In a place of modest elevations, the contour lines become especially revealing, showing the delicate rise and fall of a coastal environment shaped by tides, storms, dunes, and human alteration. The result is not decorative excess, but a refined cartographic clarity that makes the island’s geography instantly intelligible.

The map centers on Boca Grande, the historic settlement near the southern end of Gasparilla Island, and extends across the surrounding aquatic landscape that gives the place its character. Boca Grande Pass, one of the great natural openings between Charlotte Harbor and the Gulf, is a focal point both geographically and historically. Nearby waters, channels, markers, and coastal features underscore the area’s long importance to navigation. To the south and east lie the island-dotted approaches associated with Cayo Costa and the broader harbor system, while the Gulf side shows the exposed beachfront that has long drawn visitors, anglers, and residents. The Port Boca Grande Lighthouse stands as one of the map’s most evocative landmarks, anchoring the coastline in maritime history.

Historically, Port Boca Grande was far more than a quiet Gulf village. In the early twentieth century, it became an important deepwater shipping point, especially for phosphate carried by rail from Florida’s interior and loaded onto vessels bound for distant markets. That industrial past sits in fascinating contrast with the island’s later reputation for leisure, sport fishing, and coastal preservation. Boca Grande Pass is famed for tarpon fishing, and the surrounding waters have long attracted those drawn by the meeting of harbor, pass, and open sea. Seen through this map, the landscape becomes a layered place: commercial, ecological, recreational, and navigational all at once, each identity shaped by the island’s narrow form and strategic position.

As a historical topographic record, “Port Boca Grande” is especially valuable because coastal Florida has changed dramatically since the mid-twentieth century. Development patterns, shoreline management, park designations, marina facilities, roads, vegetation, and habitat boundaries may all have shifted in the decades following the 1958 survey. The map therefore captures a particular moment before later waves of environmental regulation, real estate pressure, restoration efforts, and coastal engineering further transformed the region. Its quiet details—shorelines, ponds, road alignments, low contours, and water features—invite comparison with the modern landscape. For collectors, historians, and admirers of Florida’s Gulf Coast, it offers a beautifully precise record of Boca Grande’s geography, poised between natural barrier island and human-shaped coastal settlement.

Cities, towns and places on this map

• Boca Grande
• Gasparilla Island
• Gulf of Mexico
• Charlotte Harbor
• Boca Grande Pass
• Port Boca Grande Lighthouse
• Gasparilla State Park
• Cayo Costa State Park
• Punta Gorda (not directly shown but in proximity)
• Various nearby markers/coordinates for navigational purposes and underwater features

Historical context & cartographic details

• Produced by the US Geological Survey as a historical 1:24,000 topographical map
• Created in 1958 and published with a 1973 imprint
• The US Geological Survey is known for compiling accurate geographical and topographical data across the United States
• Features a clean, functional USGS design, using blue for water and green for land
• Topography is represented through contour lines
• Emphasizes the coastal character of the region, including mainly low elevations typical of beach and coastal areas
• Reflects the geographical state of the area during the mid-20th century
• Serves as a valuable historical reference for studying later changes in land use, development, and ecology

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.