1951 Map of Seward D-6

About this map

Glacial valleys and the tidal flats of Turnagain Arm dominate this 1950s-era topographic survey, which documents the critical transportation corridor between the Kenai Peninsula and Anchorage. The infrastructure of The Alaska Railroad and the Seward Highway snakes through the mountainous terrain, passing the settlement of Girdwood and the slopes of Mount Alyeska. The map preserves the location of Portage (Site) near the head of the arm, a key transit point before the regional landscape was altered by the 1964 earthquake. Evidence of post-war activity is visible at the Lower Engineers Camp and the Landing Strip near the confluence of the Placer River and Portage Creek. From Winner Creek in the north to the high crossing at Turnagain Pass, the sheet captures a rugged geography of named peaks like Baumann Bump and active ice fields including the Explorer Glacier.