1949 McCaffrey and Alaska Steamship Company Map of Alaska

This is a 1949 Frank McCaffrey map of Alaska. The map depicts the region from Russia and the Bering Sea to British Columbia and Washington State and from the Arctic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and Olympia, Washington. Created for the Alaska Steamship Company, sea routes between Seattle and numerous cities and towns in Alaska are highlighted by red lines, including the route up the Inside Passage. Juneau, Sitka, Anchorage, Fairbanks, Dutch Harbor, and Nome are all labeled, as are numerous smaller towns and villages. Myriad rivers and streams are also illustrated, as are Mt. McKinley (Denali) National Park and Glacier Bay National Park. The Alaska Highway is also noted, as are gold placers and oil fields. The Alaska Peninsula and some of the Aleutian Islands are illustrated and labeled, as are innumerable points, capes, and bays along the Alaska coast along with small islands throughout the region.

Inset Maps

An inset map of the region from Anchorage to Fairbanks is situated in the upper right corner and illustrates the Alaska Railroad from Seward to Fairbanks and several different highways. Myriad locations along the railroad and the highways are labeled, as are rivers, mountain peaks, and Mount McKinley (Denali) National Park. A second inset map within the larger one depicts the Aleutian Islands from Attu to Umnak and labels each island. A globe, situated along the bottom border at center, illustrates the many different ways tourists could reach Seattle and then travel on to Alaska via the Alaska Line operated by the Alaska Steamship Company. It also includes a table of distances to various cities in Alaska from Seattle. A key in the lower left corner provides the viewer with important information concerning the different notations used on the map. The whole is flanked on the left and right sides by illustrations of totem poles that are indicative of those created by the Northwest Coast Indian peoples.

Publication History and Census

This map was created by Frank McCaffrey and published in 1949 for the Alaska Steamship Company. It appears that McCaffrey created at least two different editions of this map, one published in 1936 and the present example which dates from 1949. Of the two, the 1949 edition is scarcer and appears in only nine institutional collections worldwide. We have found only a handful of times when the 1949 edition has entered the private market.