Florida in 1925 - Jacksonville, Miami, Tampa, Key West

The George F. Cram Company of Chicago published this map of Florida in 1925 for its Unrivaled Atlas of the World, arriving at the absolute height of the Florida land boom, when speculation and development were reshaping the state's coastlines faster than any period before it. The map includes two insets, one of the northwestern panhandle and another of the remote Dry Tortugas, alongside a legend, latitude and longitude grid, and the electric lines that were rapidly spreading across the state's growing cities. Cram's postwar atlas updated boundaries and infrastructure nationwide, and Florida's entry reflects a state transformed almost beyond recognition from its nineteenth-century maps. The atlas as a whole ran to 182 maps and included a chronological account of the First World War alongside its updated state and city coverage.

Jacksonville remained Florida's largest city and rail gateway, while Miami, incorporated only in 1896, had exploded into a boomtown practically overnight thanks to Henry Flagler's railroad and the era's speculative real estate frenzy. Tampa continued its growth as a Gulf coast port and cigar-manufacturing center, and Key West held its long-standing position as a naval and maritime outpost at the state's southern tip. Lake Okeechobee, Florida's great inland lake, appears prominently, a reminder of the vast, still largely undeveloped interior surrounding the boom towns along the coasts. The map's inset of the Dry Tortugas, far south of the mainland, reflects growing interest in even the most remote corners of Florida's geography.

This 1925 Cram sheet captures Florida at the peak of its famous land boom, a dramatic contrast to the 1831 Finley and 1856 Colton maps also in this collection, both showing a Florida still defined by its oldest colonial towns rather than speculative coastal cities. Displayed together, the three trace nearly a century of the state's transformation. This piece suits a Florida native, a Miami or Tampa transplant, or a collector of 1920s Americana. It ships unframed and is available in multiple sizes.