Loading map...

1952 Map of Anchorage C-8

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

USGS Topo · Published 1952

About this map

The Susitna River and Little Susitna River dominate this early 1950s landscape, illustrating the critical transportation corridors that shaped the Matanuska-Susitna region. The path of The Alaska Railroad cuts through the territory, passing through small railside settlements like Houston and Pittman. This era highlights the early extraction economy of the area, clearly marking the Houston Strip Mine and a local Coal Mine near the riverbanks.

Wetlands and interconnected water systems define the southern portion of the sheet, where Big Lake and Flat Lake are surrounded by a dense network of smaller bodies like Beaver Lakes and Meadow Lakes. A historic Sled Road suggests the seasonal nature of travel in this subarctic environment before the expansion of modern road infrastructure. The map records a transition point where industrial rail and mining interests met a landscape still largely defined by its natural hydrology, including Fish Creek and Lucile Creek.