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1960 Map of Anchorage B-1

Name: 1960 Topographic Map of Anchorage B-1
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1965
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1965

About this map

Harvard Glacier and Columbia Glacier dominate this high-altitude Alaskan landscape, where massive ice fields and sharp peaks define the topography. Surveyed in the mid-1950s, the map documents the convergence of several major glacial systems, including the Yale Glacier and the Second Branch Columbia Glacier. The ice flows are punctuated by formidable summits named for historical figures and mythological entities, such as Mount Einstein, Mount Valhalla, and Mount Edison.

Evidence of the region's dynamic geology is found in the extensive crevasses marked across the Nelchina Glacier and near the base of Mount Fafnir. The cartography captures a wilderness devoid of roads or permanent settlements, focusing instead on the dramatic elevation changes between the Meares Glacier and peaks like Mount Witherspoon and Mount Langmuir. This record serves as a baseline for the state of these ice fields before the significant retreat cycles of the late twentieth century.