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1951 Map of Seward D-5

Name: 1951 Topographic Map of Seward D-5
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1963
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1963

About this map

Whittier stands as a vital rail-to-sea link in the early 1950s, serving as a deep-water terminal where the Alaska Railroad meets the waters of Passage Canal. The landscape is dominated by the industrial and military infrastructure of the era, including a CAA Station, numerous Tanks, and the engineering feat of The Tunnel, which provided the only land access through the massive peaks of the Chugach Mountains.

Beyond the settlement, the map documents a terrain defined by ice and tide, from the sprawling Harriman Glacier to the ice-choked waters of Portage Lake. Local industry and navigation are represented by the Portage Mine and a Landing Strip near the canal. This survey, compiled from early 1950s aerial photography, captures the region before the 1964 earthquake significantly altered the coastal elevations and shoreline of Blackstone Bay and its surrounding fjords.