Loading map...

1952 Map of Anchorage A-8

Name: 1952 Topographic Map of Anchorage A-8
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1970
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1970

About this map

Anchorage and its mid-century suburbs spread across the lowland between Knik Arm and Turnagain Arm in this post-war survey. The map records a city in rapid transition, where the established grid of the downtown core and Mountain View meets newer residential developments like Artesian Village, Spenard, and Turnagain Heights. Major transportation hubs are prominently featured, including the central Merrill Airport and the expanding International Airport to the southwest, while the Alaska Railroad skirts the coastline.

Beyond the urban center, the map documents early infrastructure and land use, from the Prison Farm and Turnagain Childrens Home to numerous gravel pits and the Campbell Landing Strip. The southern portion of the sheet remains largely undeveloped, transitioning from the mudflats of the coast to the high elevations of Flattop Mountain and McHugh Peak. This geography illustrates the physical constraints of early city growth before modern highways fully integrated the outlying settlements of Potter and Rainbow.