Your Alaska Highway Maps

A rare mock-up map of the Alaska Highway prior to it’s opening to the public in 1948.

“Now You Can Drive to the Top of the World.’

This scarce and unusual composite map was copyrighted in 1947 by the Northwest Mapping Service of Seattle, Washington. It was created on behalf of the Alaska Development Board to promote the soon-to-be-open Alaska Highway, completed during World War II but still inaccessible to the public. The ~1,700-mile-long route, alternatively known as the Alaska-Canada (or ALCAN) Highway, remained a challenging drive, but was a vital catalyst to the territory’s economic and industrial maturation.

Three base maps are printed onto both sides of the brochure, onto which attractive pastel colors have been applied by hand. A largely blank image, noting only the suspected route and a handful of towns, is dotted with warnings indicating ‘Rough Layout Only.’ The highway mileage chart remains empty, as do several blocks of lined text (intended for travel notes).

It’s probable that this ‘proof’ was likely ultimately published, albeit in a modified form. Internet searches return several results for the Northwest Mapping Service, but none matching the title of ‘Your Alaska Highway Maps.’ In 1949 (after statehood), the firm issued a Travel guide: Alaska highway packet, which the WorldCat entry notes as being accompanied by a “separate folder of four detailed, full-color highway maps. The complete package … is commercially known as Alaska Highway packet.”

Sources: OCLC# 54847982; University of Alaska-Fairbanks