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1945 Map of Barrow

Name: 1945 Topographic Map of Barrow
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1954
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1954

About this map

Point Barrow marks the northernmost extent of this 1945 survey, where the coastal settlement of Barrow and the village of Nuwuk stand at the edge of the Arctic Ocean. Compiled from aerial photography taken during the final summer of World War II, the map documents a landscape defined by an intricate network of thaw lakes and coastal features, including Elson Lagoon and the Plover Islands. The interior is dominated by the Naval Petroleum Reserve No 4, reflecting the era's strategic focus on northern energy resources.

Aviation history is prominently recorded through Barrow Airfield and the Will Rogers and Wiley Post Memorial, which commemorates the 1935 crash site southwest of the town. Moving east along the coast, the map traces Dease Inlet and numerous points such as Tangent Pt and Cape Simpson, providing a precise record of the shoreline and barrier islands before decades of coastal erosion and permafrost changes reshaped the northern slope.