Thanks to Amelia Raines and the staff of Worlds Revealed, published by the Geography and Map Division, for allowing us to republish this post.
Recently I came across an interesting map of Florida in our collections. Dated 1823, the map was made only four years after the territory of Florida was ceded to the United States by Spain, and 22 years before it became a state in its own right. The map, authored by surveyor Charles Vignoles and engraved by Henry Schenck Tanner, caught my eye due to its age and its detail, which includes the names and descriptions of natural and inhabited places, land grants, and trails throughout the peninsula. One name in particular stood out, and after a little research, I learned that this map is generally considered to be the first map to use the name “Everglades” (or really, “Ever Glades”) for the enormous wetlands which dominate the southern part of the Florida peninsula.