1961 Plat or City Map of Southeast Cape Coral, Florida

This is a c. 1961 plat or real-estate city map of the development of the southeastern part of Cape Coral, Florida.

A Closer Look

Lots, or 'sites', are numbered and shaded to differentiate price points. Patterns, such as dots, diagonal stripes, and cross-hatching, allow for even further price-point specificity. None of the streets within the development are labeled, and only two streets that act as boundaries are identified. However, the human-made lakes within the development have been named. Sites that have been set aside for use as motels, theaters, restaurants, schools, parks, and other civic projects are shaded white, just like the streets. Insets on both the recto and verso present a broader perspective.

Cape Coral, Florida

Cape Coral, Florida, was founded by Baltimore real estate developers Leonard and Jack Rosen. The brothers purchased the Redfish Point peninsula in 1957 with the intention of developing a master-planned, organized community under the auspices of the Gulf American Land Corporation (GALC). The development was marketed as a 'Waterfront Wonderland,' with over 400 miles of canals. The Rosens employed aggressive marketing strategies, including nationwide advertising, free 'dinner and a pitch' presentations, and chartered flights for planeloads of prospective buyers from the Northeast and Midwest. After the first four houses were completed in May 1958, the city grew very rapidly, with the GALC becoming the largest land sales company in the country in the following years. By the 1970s, the wider economic situation and backlash against the company's aggressive sales tactics and cavalier environmental practices (rampant canal digging) led it to file Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1975, but the city continued to grow nonetheless. Cape Coral was incorporated as a city in 1970, transitioning from a developer-controlled community to a self-governed city. Over the decades, Cape Coral has evolved into one of the largest cities in Florida by area, known for its family-friendly environment, extensive canal system, and vibrant community life. In 2017, Forbes named Cape Coral America's fastest growing city.

Publication History and Census

This map was created and published c. 1961 to help Cape Coral's developers sell properties. We have encountered one other map from this series, now part of the Tampa Bay Historical Society Touchton Map Collection, and have previously sold one other example of this map, but otherwise, we are not aware of any other examples in institutional collections or on the market.