Absence of 1920s-1940s USGS topographic quadrangles for Avon Park
Attempts to identify the exact coordinates of early twentieth-century turpentine camps (such as Hagan’s) near Avon Park through historic map symbols are blocked by a cartographic gap. The United States Geological Survey (USGS) did not produce a topographic quadrangle covering the Avon Park area during the height of the regional naval stores industry.
The earliest USGS topographic quadrangles mapped and published for the Avon Park area date to 1952 (Lake Arbuckle, Sebring) and 1953 (Avon Park, Crewsville, Frostproof).[usgs-topoview-avon-park-1953] Consequently, no 1920s, 1930s, or 1940s USGS map exists for the immediate vicinity of Avon Park to record the locations of operating turpentine stills before the industry largely exhausted the local timber.
While local stills cannot be pinpointed on government quadrangles, the physical structures and operations of the era’s turpentine industry are well documented in federal photography from other parts of Florida.
Turpentine still. North Florida., 1939. Marion Post Wolcott, Farm Security Administration - Office of War Information Photograph Collection / Library of Congress.[loc-2017754668]
References
- usgs-topoview-avon-park-1953 — United States Geological Survey. Avon Park, FL - 1:24,000-scale topographic map (1953). 1953. https://ngmdb.usgs.gov/topoview/viewer/#12/27.5950/-81.5050
- loc-2017754668 — Marion Post Wolcott, Farm Security Administration. Turpentine still. North Florida. 1939. turpentine-still-north-florida-1939.md
Where this comes from
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- unverified — Drafted from sources but not yet checked by a volunteer.
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Sources
- United States Geological Survey, Avon Park, FL - 1:24,000-scale topographic map (1953) (1953) · official
- Marion Post Wolcott, Farm Security Administration, Turpentine still. North Florida. (media/turpentine-still-north-florida-1939.md) (1939) · archival
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