1980 Murphy Realty Map of Sanibel and Captiva

A charming 1980 realty map of Sanibel and Captiva Islands in Southwest Florida, distributed by Priscilla Murphy Realty.

A Closer Look

The islands of Sanibel and Captiva are displayed along with other small neighboring islands and portions of the Florida mainland. Roads, bridges, and local landmarks are labeled, including schools, post offices, churches, and offices of Priscilla Murphy Realty. The lighthouse, known as the Sanibel Island Light, at the eastern tip of Sanibel is an iron 100-foot skeleton tower constructed in 1884. In Pine Island Sound, illustrations of pirates refer to the apocryphal history of piracy on Sanibel and neighboring Captiva, based on the mythical figure José Gaspar (Gasparilla). Around the map are illustrations of shells found along the islands' beaches; due to the tides and the island's orientation in the Gulf of Mexico, an abundance of seashells are deposited on its beaches each night, earning it the nickname 'Seashell Capital of the World.' The verso contains a helpful tide chart for every day of 1980, a hallmark of Murphy's realty maps.

Publication History and Census

This map was produced by Priscilla Murphy Realty on Sanibel in 1980 (or perhaps late 1979). Murphy appears to have published several editions of a map with a tide chart on the verso. The closest to the present edition in institutional collections is a 1981 map and tide chart held by the University of Chicago and the Library of Congress.