1947 Way Pictorial Tourist Map of Florida

This is a 1947 George D. Way pictorial tourist map of Florida. Vignettes highlight attractions from Pensacola to Key West, including national parks, forests, beaches, museums, wildlife sanctuaries, gardens, and zoos.

A Closer Look

Florida is portrayed as America's outdoor playground with activities including tennis, golf, waterskiing, fishing, and boating taking center stage. Illustrated figures refer to the state's various leisure activities, famous sites, attractions, and communities. Florida's tropical weather is also hinted at in the map's overall aesthetic, and by emphasizing the Ringling Brothers' Circus winter quarters and Major League Baseball's spring training fields. Photographs adorn the border and promote sites throughout the state, including the Oriental Gardens, Silver Springs, Fort San Marcos, and the Bok Tower.

Verso Content

Since the recto is meant to draw tourists to Florida, the verso shows them how to get there, with a detailed road map of the state. Insets of Pensacola, Orlando, Tampa, Lakeland, Daytona Beach, Palm Beach, St. Petersburg, and Miami are included, as is a circular inset at bottom-center highlighting the principal highways in the southeast. A mileage chart and an alphabetic index of cities and towns corresponding to a grid in the border are also present to simplify any traveler's journey.

Publication History and Census

This map was drawn by George D. Way and published by the State Road Department of Florida in 1947. An example is part of the collection at the Touchton Map Library at the Tampa Bay History Center. Eight examples of this map are cataloged in the OCLC and are part of the institutional collections at the University of Kentucky, Ball State University, the University of South Carolina, the Jacksonville Public Library, Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville, the University of Minnesota Minneapolis, Memorial University/Newfoundland, Elizabeth II in St. Johns, Newfoundland, and the University of Kansas.