1915 U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Map of Tampa

A 1915 nautical chart and map of Tampa, Florida, produced by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. It demonstrates the dredging and widening of waterways leading to the city, which were essential to the growth of its economy, especially the shipping of phosphate and cigars which were locally produced.

A Closer Look

Coverage includes the city of Tampa with nearby islands and waterways. The Seddon Channel leading straight to the main part of the city is highlighted, with soundings provided along its length. This and other channels near Tampa had been subject to continuous deepening and widening projects by the Corps of Engineers in the preceding years. Navigational landmarks such as signal towers and the spire of the city's Catholic Church are also indicated. A legend and explanations appear at bottom-right below the title. The rail lines present belonged to the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad, but had originally been built by Henry B. Plant (in many respects the founder of modern Tampa) and were a key point in the 'Plant System' of rail lines throughout the Southeast.

Engineering Tampa Bay

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers undertook a series of projects near Tampa in the late 19th and early 20th century that helped to ensure the city's later development. Most notably, this included dredging work to deepen and widen Hillsborough Bay ('Hillsboro' in contemporary documents) to allow larger ships to reach Tampa from the Gulf of Mexico. Channels were also dug or widened along the Manatee River and other nearby waterways to facilitate the easy flow of water and allow more direct travel for ships. These efforts paid off handsomely when the Tampa region was discovered (in part by the Corps of Engineers) to be abundant in phosphate, an important ingredient in fertilizers which was shipped throughout the country. In the early 19th century, Tampa also became the center of America's cigar industry, similarly requiring robust port facilities to allow for continuous export.

Publication History and Census

This map was produced by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers between 1914 and 1915 and was printed by Norris Peters as part of a report to Congress titled Harbor at Tampa, Fla. Letter from the Secretary of War, transmitting with a letter from the Chief of Engineers, reports on preliminary examination and survey of harbor at Tampa, Fla. (64th Congress, House Doc. No. 1345). The map itself is not independently cataloged with any institution, while the entire report is held by a handful of institutions, though a precise census is difficult given the intermingling of digital and physical examples and the inconsistent cataloging of the individual report versus the bound collection of all House documents for the 64th Congress.