1940 Kroll Map Company Map of Alaska

An impressive piece, this is a c. 1940 Kroll Map Company map of Alaska. The map illustrates the territory before it became a state (1959) and just prior to World War II (1939 - 1945), in which Alaska played a significant role. Coverage extends from Siberia to the Yukon Territory, and from the Arctic Ocean and the town of Barrow to Unalaska. Cities and towns are identified throughout, including Anchorage, Juneau, Seward, and Fairbanks.

Road Network

The map lavishes attention on the state's road network. Roads are illustrated in several different ways, based upon quality. Some are denoted by solid parallel red lines, while others, like the Valdez-Fairbanks Auto Road, wagon roads, and sled roads, a variety of black lines. The Valdez-Fairbanks Road is solid black, while the sled roads are illustrated using parallel dashed lines.

Other Transportation Networks and Resources

Proposed air routes through Alaska, which must have been a priority given the global political climate of 1940, are marked by solid red lines. Alaska's seemingly unending natural resources are cataloged, with notations for marble, tin, gold, copper, coal, and oil. An inset map of the Aleutian Islands from Umnak to Attu appears along the bottom border. A town index is situated along the right border, locating each by its coordinates.

Publication History and Census

This map was created and published by the Kroll Map Company c. 1940. We note eight cataloged examples in OCLC, in the collections at Yale University, Harvard College, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities, the Denver Public Library, the University of Alaska Fairbanks, Georgia Southern University, the University of Oklahoma, the Buffalo and Erie County Public Library. We note another example at the David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford.