Alaska to Mexico via Reno – “Fun Center of the West”

Fairbanks to Mexico City, with a stopover at Harold’s Club in Reno!

This fun road map shows a somewhat circuitous route from Fairbanks to Mexico City. Several different highways comprise the approximately 6,000-mile trip, billed as ‘The Direct North-South Inland Sunshine Route’. Distances between points are noted and various locations of interest are labeled throughout; including several National Parks, the Century 21 Exposition in Seattle, the 1961 Gold Cup Races at Pyramid Lake, and the Atomic Energy Commission Testing Area. Pictorial topography highlights the rugged terrain and geographic features.

Skyline vignettes represent many of the major urban centers across the image, though non are featured as prominently as Reno, Nevada. Here was home to Harold’s Club (a casino) and Pony Express Lodge, the copyright holder and distributor of the map.

The image was drawn by the talented Gerald Eddy and published in Reno in 1961. Likely at least the second edition, as there are a few instances where previous content has been obviously updated. (See ‘Survival and Helicopter Training’ outside of Reno).