The earliest, accurate soundings for Tampa Bay were made during a surveying expedition by Spanish naval forces led by Don Francisco Maria Celi in 1757. The Celi expedition produced a beautiful and competent map of Tampa Bay that is unquestionably a key document in Florida history. According to the expedition’s manuscript, a storm forced the ship to anchor in Tampa Bay for several days, providing an opportunity to explore the coast. Not only did the chart produce soundings of the bay, but graphically portrayed the various flora and fauna of the region.
In 1967, Dr. W. D. Sugg commissioned Spanish artist Pardo de Cela to reproduce the Celi Map from the original housed in the Spanish Naval Museum in Madrid, Spain. |