Territory of Alaska

Vibrant map of Alaska issued to promote the lines of the Alaska Steamship Company.

As stated in the statistics on the left side of the title, the Alaska Territory has an estimated population of 62,000 at the time this map was published in 1936. Though it’s effects had diminished somewhat, the Great Depression had caused a significant reduction in the price of fish and mineral ores, the two primary industries, and workers had left the region in large quantities. Hoping to boost ticket sales to tourists and laborers alike, the Alaska Steamship Company issued this promotional map, highlighting the accessibility of transportation to the territory.

Steamship routes, highways (including the proposed Alaska Highway), and rail lines are all shown, the majority of which lead to significant population centers shaded in orange. Most of these destinations are either parks, mines, whaling stations or oil fields.

One location of note, Matanuska Valley just north of Anchorage, is the site of several hundred families that had relocated from farms in the Midwest as part of Roosevelt’s New Deal in 1935. The settlers, hoping for a fresh start, were from Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota due to the similarity of climates.

Other details of interest include two inset maps. The larger, upper left, shows the area around Anchorage and Mt. McKinley National Park. Text immediately below describes Alaska as “awaiting popular appreciation of her varied resources and climatic conditions, “America’s Last Frontier” is yet a virtually untouched storehouse of natural wealth.” A second inset map, lower center, highlights Alaska’s accessibility to the railroads of the contiguous states via the lines of the Alaska Steamship Company.