1929 Poole Brothers Map of Alaska and Alaska Steamship Company Routes

This is a 1929 Poole Brothers map of Alaska promoting the Alaska Steamship Company and their routes from the northernmost Alaska to Seattle, Washington. The map highlights American enthusiasm over the mineral wealth and natural resources of Alaska and the Yukon.

Go to Alaska and Make a Fortune

The Klondike, Fairbanks, and Nome gold placers are highlighted, as well as the Nenana, Matanuska, and Bering River coal fields. Other highlighted resources include the Point Barrow Oil Field, along with a handful of other oil fields, and the Kennecott copper mines. Mt. McKinley National Park and the U.S. Seal Preserve around the Pribilof Islands are identified using the same symbol, allowing for no distinction in importance between preservation of natural landscapes and the exploitation of natural resources.

How to Get There

The two major routes of the Alaska Steamship Company are illustrated in red, the Inside Route (which ventured up the Pacific coast to Skagway, Valdez, and Seward) and the Nome and St. Michael route. The Copper River and Northwestern Railroad and the Alaska Railroad are depicted both on the central map and via an inset. The inset map details the route of the Copper River and Northwestern from Seward to Fairbanks and the Alaska from Cordova to Kennecott. The inset map also notes the military telegraph lines, stage routes, and wireless stations. A table of distances from Seattle to thirteen locations in Alaska is included along the bottom border.

Publication History and Census

This map was created and published by the Poole Brothers Company of Chicago to promote the Alaska Steamship Company. The first edition was published in 1917, with the present edition being dated December 2, 1929.