1917 Army Corps of Engineers Chart of Hillsborough River, Map of Tampa, Florida

A highly detailed chart of the Hillsboro (now spelled Hillsborough) River and street map of adjacent areas of Tampa, Florida, produced by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in 1917. It highlights dredging work in the river, which occurred over several decades, controlling the river's waters and allowing it to handle larger ships, a boon to the growing city's economy.

A Closer Look

Oriented towards the east, the map focuses on the Hillsboro River, providing depths of borings all along its length, which are also recorded in a table at bottom. Bridges are also indicated, including the Lafayette St. Bridge (now Kennedy Blvd.), a concrete structure built in 1912-1913 (with the assistance of the Army Corps of Engineers), replacing an earlier railway bridge. The lines of the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad (A.C.L.R.R.) and the Tampa Electric Company's (TECO) Street Railway stand out. These two companies played a central role in the development of Tampa, as evidenced by their broad distribution and the number of related facilities, including the Tampa Bay Hotel near the Lafayette St. Bridge, a magnificent structure built by railroad entrepreneur Henry Plant, whose extensive network was incorporated into the A.C.L.R.R. in the early 20th century. Other enterprises along the river are noted, including Standard Oil, Gulf Refining, and the Tampa Water Works Co. Pumping Station, which was the city's primary drinking water source. Streets, including those planned to be built (marked with dashed lines), are noted throughout. An inset map of Hillsboro Bay and the entire Tampa area appears at right.

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, the first such project by the Corps of Engineers, 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 easy water flow and allow ships more direct travel. These efforts, which required an impressive coordination of federal, state, and local government as well as private industry, paid off handsomely when the Tampa region was discovered (in part by the Corps of Engineers) to be abundant in phosphate, an essential ingredient in fertilizers which was shipped from Tampa throughout the country. In the early 20th century, Tampa also became the center of America's cigar industry, similarly requiring robust port facilities for continuous export.

Publication History and Census

This map was drawn by 'A.L.B.', printed by the U.S. Geological Survey, and produced by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in 1917. It was presented as part of a report to Congress titled Hillsboro River, Fla. Letter from the Secretary of War, transmitting with a letter from the Chief of Engineers, reports on preliminary examination of Hillsboro River, Fla., from Michigan Avenue to Lafayette Street Bridge, Tampa (66th Congress, 1st Session, House Doc. No. 256). The map is not independently cataloged in the OCLC, while the report is listed among the holdings of Brown University and Faulkner University.