After congress approved the completion of the Alaska Railroad from Seward to Fairbanks in 1914, it was decided that a new town should be built as a port and rail hub along the route. The decision was made to develop a site near Ship Creek on Cook Inlet. Survey parties visited the area in 1914 and researched possible routes for the rails and options for siting the new town. Anchorage was originally settled as a
tent city
A tent city is a temporary housing facility made using tents or other temporary structures.
State governments or military organizations set up tent cities to house evacuees, refugees, or soldiers. UNICEF's Supply Division supplies expandable ten ...
near the mouth of
Ship Creek
Ship Creek ( Dena'ina: ''Dgheyaytnu'') is an Alaskan river that flows from the Chugach Mountains into Cook Inlet. The Port of Anchorage at the mouth of Ship Creek gave its name ("Knik Anchorage") to the city of Anchorage that grew up nearby.
The ...
in 1915, and a planned townsite was platted alongside the bluff to the south.
Anchorage
Anchorage () is the largest city in the U.S. state of Alaska by population. With a population of 291,247 in 2020, it contains nearly 40% of the state's population. The Anchorage metropolitan area, which includes Anchorage and the neighboring Ma ...
was mostly a
company town
A company town is a place where practically all stores and housing are owned by the one company that is also the main employer. Company towns are often planned with a suite of amenities such as stores, houses of worship, schools, markets and re ...
for the
Alaska Railroad
Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...
for its first several decades of existence.
The strategic location of Alaska, which led to a massive buildup of military facilities throughout Alaska during the years of World War II, changed that. Largely due to the military presence and resource development activities throughout Alaska, Anchorage has enjoyed significant boosts to its population and economic base from 1940 to the present.
The
1964 Alaska earthquake
The 1964 Alaskan earthquake, also known as the Great Alaskan earthquake and Good Friday earthquake, occurred at 5:36 PM AKST on Good Friday, March 27. outright destroyed or caused significant damage to most of the Anchorage neighborhoods adjacent to
Knik Arm
Knik Arm ( Dena'ina: ''Nuti'') is a waterway into the northwestern part of the Gulf of Alaska. It is one of two narrow branches of Cook Inlet, the other being Turnagain Arm. Knik Glacier empties into the Knik Arm. The Port of Anchorage is loc ...
, including its downtown. The community rapidly rebuilt, and has since emerged as a major American city.
Early history
According to archaeological evidence discovered at
Beluga Point along the
Turnagain Arm
Turnagain Arm ( Dena'ina: ''Tutl'uh'') is a waterway into the northwestern part of the Gulf of Alaska. It is one of two narrow branches at the north end of Cook Inlet, the other being Knik Arm. Turnagain is subject to climate extremes and large tid ...
, just south of modern-day Anchorage, the
Cook Inlet
Cook Inlet ( tfn, Tikahtnu; Sugpiaq: ''Cungaaciq'') stretches from the Gulf of Alaska to Anchorage in south-central Alaska. Cook Inlet branches into the Knik Arm and Turnagain Arm at its northern end, almost surrounding Anchorage. On its sou ...
had been inhabited, at least seasonally, by
Alutiiq
The Alutiiq people (pronounced in English; from Promyshlenniki Russian Алеутъ, "Aleut"; plural often "Alutiit"), also called by their ancestral name ( or ; plural often "Sugpiat"), as well as Pacific Eskimo or Pacific Yupik, are a sout ...
Eskimos beginning between 5000 and 6000 years ago. This occupation occurred in three separate waves, with the second occurring roughly 4000 years ago, and the last around 2000 years ago. The
Chugach
Chugach , Chugach Sugpiaq or Chugachigmiut is the name of an Alaska Native people in the region of the Kenai Peninsula and Prince William Sound on the southern coast of Alaska. The Chugach people are an Alutiiq (Pacific Eskimo) people who speak ...
Alutiiq likely inhabited the area from the first century until sometime between 500 and 1650 AD, when tribes of Dena'ina
Athabaskan
Athabaskan (also spelled ''Athabascan'', ''Athapaskan'' or ''Athapascan'', and also known as Dene) is a large family of indigenous languages of North America, located in western North America in three areal language groups: Northern, Pacific C ...
s moved into the area from the interior of the state. Like their
Apache
The Apache () are a group of culturally related Native American tribes in the Southwestern United States, which include the Chiricahua, Jicarilla, Lipan, Mescalero, Mimbreño, Ndendahe (Bedonkohe or Mogollon and Nednhi or Carrizaleño an ...
cousins, the
Dena'ina were a nomadic people, who had no permanent settlements but instead migrated throughout the area following the seasonal resources. In summer they tended to fish along coastal streams and rivers, living in portable, dome-shaped tents constructed out of local willow or birch branches and covered with animal skins. In the fall they would carry these to higher ground where they would hunt
moose
The moose (in North America) or elk (in Eurasia) (''Alces alces'') is a member of the New World deer subfamily and is the only species in the genus ''Alces''. It is the largest and heaviest extant species in the deer family. Most adult mal ...
,
Dall sheep, and
mountain goat
The mountain goat (''Oreamnos americanus''), also known as the Rocky Mountain goat, is a hoofed mammal endemic to mountainous areas of western North America. A subalpine to alpine species, it is a sure-footed climber commonly seen on cliffs and ...
s, and late fall was reserved for berry picking. In the winter they would build temporary structures near junction points along common trading routes, and traded with other tribes from areas nearby. The Dena'ina learned to make and use
kayak
A kayak is a small, narrow watercraft which is typically propelled by means of a double-bladed paddle. The word kayak originates from the Greenlandic word ''qajaq'' ().
The traditional kayak has a covered deck and one or more cockpits, each se ...
s from the Chugach, suggesting that for a time both peoples shared the area.
Cook's expedition
When
Captain James Cook
James Cook (7 November 1728 Old Style date: 27 October – 14 February 1779) was a British explorer, navigator, cartographer, and captain in the British Royal Navy, famous for his three voyages between 1768 and 1779 in the Pacific Ocean and ...
mapped the area in May of 1778, the Chugach peoples had already abandoned it. On a mission to find the legendary
Northwest Passage
The Northwest Passage (NWP) is the sea route between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans through the Arctic Ocean, along the northern coast of North America via waterways through the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. The eastern route along the Arct ...
, Cook was under orders to avoid any obvious rivers or inlets. Upon first sighting the inlet, and the mountains surrounding it on all sides, Cook planned to pass it by, but at the urging of
John Gore and many others of his crew, he decided to explore the area in order to assuage his men.
For a period of ten days, Cook made an extensive survey of the inlet, which at its head split into two arms. Under a bluff near the mouth of Ship Creek, Cook anchored his ship,
HMS ''Resolution'', and had his first encounter with the local Natives as two men approached in kayaks, beckoning them ashore. He sent
William Bligh
Vice-Admiral William Bligh (9 September 1754 – 7 December 1817) was an officer of the Royal Navy and a colonial administrator. The mutiny on the HMS ''Bounty'' occurred in 1789 when the ship was under his command; after being set adrift i ...
in a boat to scout the north arm, where he met with some local Natives who told him the arm only led to two rivers, called the Knik and Matanuska Rivers. Cook sailed south to scout the other arm, but was unable to sail down it against the strong tides and ran aground on a sandbar while trying to get back out, and had to wait for high tide. Described by
George Vancouver
Captain George Vancouver (22 June 1757 – 10 May 1798) was a British Royal Navy officer best known for his 1791–1795 expedition, which explored and charted North America's northwestern Pacific Coast regions, including the coasts of what a ...
as being in a "foul mood", Cook called the arm "River Turnagain". Cook then sailed back to retrieve Bligh, and before leaving he sent
James King ashore with a
Union Jack
The Union Jack, or Union Flag, is the ''de facto'' national flag of the United Kingdom. Although no law has been passed making the Union Flag the official national flag of the United Kingdom, it has effectively become such through precedent. ...
to claim the region for King
George III
George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Br ...
. There, King met with some friendly Natives, where they shared some bottles of wine, and gave a toast to King. King gave them the empty bottles, except one, which he stuffed with some papers and buried under a tree where he said, "...in many ages hence it may puzle antiquarians." As Cook sailed away, many Natives stood along the shores of the inlet waving skins or spreading their arms wide in gestures of peace. Cook remarked that the Natives of the area seemed very honest, being only interested in fair trade. He noted that many of them had iron knives or spearheads, surmising that other traders, possibly Russian, had been there before.
Cook never gave the inlet a name, although King referred to it as the "Great River". Years later,
John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich
John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich, PC, FRS (13 November 1718 – 30 April 1792) was a British statesman who succeeded his grandfather Edward Montagu, 3rd Earl of Sandwich as the Earl of Sandwich in 1729, at the age of ten. During his life ...
in London, changed the name to "Cook's River". In 1792, George Vancouver returned and more thoroughly mapped the area, renaming it Cook Inlet, complaining of Cook's voyage that, had they simply stayed for one more day, they could have finished the map and avoided a decade of speculation.
Russian occupation
Russian presence in south central Alaska was well established in the 19th century. Russian presence in the Cook Inlet was not as extensive as in the Aleutian Islands or the panhandles. The
Shelekhov-Golikov Company
The Shelikhov-Golikov Company (SGC) was a Russian fur trading venture, founded by Irkutsk entrepreneurs Grigory Shelikhov and Ivan Larionovich Golikov in 1783. Formed in Eastern Siberia during the 1780s along with several competing companies, t ...
placed a trading post at ''Niteh'', on a delta between the Knik and Matanuska Rivers. Fierce competition ensued between them and the rival
Lebedev-Lastochkin Company, which had two posts farther south along the inlet. Facing financial difficulties,
Tsar Paul I
Paul I (russian: Па́вел I Петро́вич ; – ) was Emperor of Russia from 1796 until his assassination. Officially, he was the only son of Peter III of Russia, Peter III and Catherine the Great, although Catherine hinted that he w ...
gave Shelekhov-Golikov sole monopoly over Alaskan trade, under the direction of
Alexander Baranov, which became the
Russian-American Company
The Russian-American Company Under the High Patronage of His Imperial Majesty (russian: Под высочайшим Его Императорского Величества покровительством Российская-Американс ...
. In 1849, the Russians sent a mining engineer to survey the area, who found small amounts of gold and deposits of coal nearby. By 1850, the former employees of the company had created a small agricultural community in nearby
Eklutna
Eklutna (; Dena'ina: ''Idlughet''; Ahtna: ''Zdlaaygha'') is a native village within the Municipality of Anchorage in the U.S. state of Alaska. The Tribal Council estimates the population at 70; many tribal members live in the surrounding communit ...
, and a Russian Orthodox church was built at Knik. By the late 1860s, it had become apparent that, due to other problems in Europe and Asia, Russia could no longer afford to keep up its enterprises in Alaska, and the company was sold to its employees, becoming the
Northern Commercial Company
The Alaska Commercial Company (ACC) is a company that operated retail stores in Alaska during the early period of Alaska's ownership by the United States. From 1901 to 1992, it was known as the Northern Commercial Company (NCC). In 1992, it resumed ...
, and then the
Alaska Commercial Company
The Alaska Commercial Company (ACC) is a company that operated retail stores in Alaska during the early period of Alaska's ownership by the United States. From 1901 to 1992, it was known as the Northern Commercial Company (NCC). In 1992, it resumed ...
. In 1867, U.S. Secretary of State
William H. Seward
William Henry Seward (May 16, 1801 – October 10, 1872) was an American politician who served as United States Secretary of State from 1861 to 1869, and earlier served as governor of New York and as a United States Senate, United States Senat ...
brokered a
deal to purchase Alaska from a debt-ridden
Imperial Russia
The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the List of Russian monarchs, Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended th ...
for $7.2 million – about two cents an acre.
The deal was lampooned by fellow politicians and by the public as "Seward's folly", "Seward's icebox" and "Walrussia."
Gold rush
By 1888,
gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...
was discovered along
Turnagain Arm
Turnagain Arm ( Dena'ina: ''Tutl'uh'') is a waterway into the northwestern part of the Gulf of Alaska. It is one of two narrow branches at the north end of Cook Inlet, the other being Knik Arm. Turnagain is subject to climate extremes and large tid ...
at
Resurrection Creek
Resurrection Creek is a waterway in the Kenai Peninsula, Alaska, US. Along with Bear Creek, Sixmile Creek, and Glacier Creek, it is a tributary of Turnagain Arm. The stream's watershed drains on the north side of the Kenai Peninsula, and the comm ...
, and the small towns of
Hope
Hope is an optimistic state of mind that is based on an expectation of positive outcomes with respect to events and circumstances in one's life or the world at large.
As a verb, its definitions include: "expect with confidence" and "to cherish ...
and
Sunrise
Sunrise (or sunup) is the moment when the upper rim of the Sun appears on the horizon in the morning. The term can also refer to the entire process of the solar disk crossing the horizon and its accompanying atmospheric effects.
Terminology
Al ...
formed. As a new influx of prospectors flooded the area, small amounts of gold were found in several of the other fjords, and small communities such as Indian, Girdwood, and Portage began to spring up in nearly every one. Lumber and coal were quickly needed, which were imported from the Matanuska Valley, and
Joe Spenard constructed a lumber mill that was to become the town of
Spenard, just south of modern downtown Anchorage.
The fur trade was still a profitable enterprise, and many of the mountain ranges formed natural funnels leading to the Cook Inlet, along a variety of trails that had been used for centuries by Native tribes. With deposits of coal and vast growths of lumber in the Matanuska and Susitna Valleys, and dog sleds packed with gold arriving from strikes in places like
Iditarod
The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, more commonly known as The Iditarod, is an annual long-distance sled dog race run in early March. It travels from Anchorage to Nome, entirely within the US state of Alaska. Mushers and a team of between 12 a ...
, population began to rise in these areas and producers were in need of a way to get their goods to market. In
Knik, a shipping town formed and grew rapidly, and George W. Palmer opened a general store. The town boasted a restaurant, two hotels, and the first post office in the area. The waters near Knik were too shallow for anything but small boats, so goods had to be ferried to and from larger ships waiting in the deeper waters at the bluff just north of Ship Creek, which became known as the Knik Anchorage. In 1912, Alaska became an
organized incorporated United States territory.
["Anchorage Historical Highlights."](_blank)
Municipality of Anchorage website. Accessed Apr. 6, 2007.
Alaska Railroad
In 1914, congress passed the
Alaska Railroad Act, and the Secretary of the Interior formed the
Alaska Engineering Commission, consisting of
Thomas Riggs Jr.,
William C. Edes, and
Frederick Mears
Colonel Frederick Mears (May 5, 1878 – January 11, 1939) was an American military officer in the US Army and railroad engineer and executive. He was the son of a career army officer and his brother Major Edward C. Mears was also in the US army. M ...
.The commission hired several survey teams who spent the summer scouting possible routes for a railroad, primarily to bring coal from the mines in Matanuska and
Healy to a deep-water port. Rumors began to spread before a finding was ever made, and people quickly began to settle in the Ship Creek area, and the name "Knik Anchorage" began to be published in many sources. The commission mapped out three possible routes and submitted them to
President Woodrow Wilson
Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was an American politician and academic who served as the 28th president of the United States from 1913 to 1921. A member of the Democratic Party, Wilson served as the president of P ...
. On April 10, 1915, Wilson chose the "Susitna route", from the northern coal-mines in
Nenana, deep in the interior of Alaska near
Fairbanks
Fairbanks is a home rule city and the borough seat of the Fairbanks North Star Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. Fairbanks is the largest city in the Interior region of Alaska and the second largest in the state. The 2020 Census put the po ...
, south to Healy and then to the Matanuska coal mines, and down through the
Kenai Peninsula
The Kenai Peninsula ( Dena'ina: ''Yaghenen'') is a large peninsula jutting from the coast of Southcentral Alaska. The name Kenai (, ) is derived from the word "Kenaitze" or "Kenaitze Indian Tribe", the name of the Native Athabascan Alaskan tribe ...
to the town of
Seward; a deep-water port relatively free of ice where the coal could be loaded onto large
bulk carrier
A bulk carrier or bulker is a merchant ship specially designed to transport unpackaged bulk cargo — such as grains, coal, ore, steel coils, and cement — in its cargo holds. Since the first specialized bulk carrier was built in 1852, econom ...
ships. In the middle of these end points was the Knik Anchorage, which served as the starting point for construction to begin, proceeding in both directions, and became the headquarters for the commission.
As news spread of the prospect of work, a new stampede of people flocked to the Knik Anchorage. Mears arrived to find over 2000 people living on the flats surrounding Ship Creek in ragged tents and makeshift shelters, and unsanitary conditions starting to develop. In addition, as many as 100 people continued to arrive each week. Mears requested that a town site be mapped out above the higher bluffs south of the creek, and President Wilson signed the order later that year, under the provision that the new town become a model of sobriety. To ensure this, an experimental plan was put into place where land was auctioned off to the people but could be forfeited if a person was caught violating the alcohol laws.
The waters near Ship Creek, although not a deep-water port, were deep enough for barges and small ships, and a dock was constructed for offloading cargo and railroad supplies. As Knik Anchorage grew, the town of Knik dwindled and finally became a
ghost town
Ghost Town(s) or Ghosttown may refer to:
* Ghost town, a town that has been abandoned
Film and television
* Ghost Town (1936 film), ''Ghost Town'' (1936 film), an American Western film by Harry L. Fraser
* Ghost Town (1956 film), ''Ghost Town'' ...
. The post office moved to the Knik Anchorage, who changed the name to simply "Anchorage", deeming that all packages and letters should be addressed accordingly. However, in August the people were given a chance to vote on the name, and many options were tossed about, including "Matanuska", "Ship Creek", "Homestead", "Terminal", and "Gateway". The name "Alaska City" won the vote, but the federal government ultimately declined the request.
Statehood
Between the 1930s and 1950s,
air transportation
Aviation includes the activities surrounding mechanical flight and the aircraft industry. ''Aircraft'' includes fixed-wing and rotary-wing types, morphable wings, wing-less lifting bodies, as well as lighter-than-air craft such as hot air ...
became increasingly important. In 1930,
Merrill Field
Merrill Field is a public-use general aviation airport located one mile (1.6 km) east of downtown Anchorage in the U.S. state of Alaska. The airport is owned by Municipality of Anchorage. It opened in 1930 as Anchorage Aviation Field and w ...
replaced the city's original "Park Strip" landing field. By the mid-1930s, Merrill Field was one of the busiest
civilian
Civilians under international humanitarian law are "persons who are not members of the armed forces" and they are not "combatants if they carry arms openly and respect the laws and customs of war". It is slightly different from a non-combatant, b ...
airports in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
. On December 10, 1951,
Anchorage International Airport
Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport is a major airport in the U.S. state of Alaska, located southwest of downtown Anchorage. The airport is named for Ted Stevens, a U.S. senator from Alaska in office from 1968 to 2009. It is included ...
opened, with transpolar airline traffic flying between
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
and
Asia
Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...
.
Starting in the 1940s, military presence in Alaska was also greatly expanded.
Elmendorf Air Force Base
Elmendorf Air Force Base is a United States Air Force (USAF) facility in Anchorage, Alaska. Originally known as Elmendorf Field, it became Elmendorf Air Force Base after World War II.
It is the home of the Headquarters, Alaskan Air Command (AL ...
and
Fort Richardson were constructed, and Anchorage became the headquarters of the
Alaska Defense Command
The Alaska Defense Command (ADC) was a military formation of the United States Army. It was established on 4 February 1941, responsible for coordinating the defense of the Alaska Territory of the United States. The first commanding general of ADC ...
. Heavy military investment occurred during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, due to the threat of Japanese invasion, and continued into 1950, because of
Cold War
The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...
tensions.
In the 1940s and 1950s, Anchorage began looking more like a city. Between 1940 and 1951, Anchorage's population increased from 3,000 to 47,000. Crime and the cost of living in the city also grew. In 1949, the first
traffic lights
Traffic lights, traffic signals, or stoplights – known also as robots in South Africa are signalling devices positioned at road intersections, pedestrian crossings, and other locations in order to control flows of traffic.
Traffic light ...
were installed on Fourth Avenue. In 1951, the
Seward Highway
The Seward Highway is a highway in the U.S. state of Alaska that extends from Seward to Anchorage. It was completed in 1951 and runs through the scenic Kenai Peninsula, Chugach National Forest, Turnagain Arm, and Kenai Mountains. The Seward H ...
was opened.
KTVA
KTVA (channel 11) is a television station in Anchorage, Alaska, United States, affiliated with the digital multicast network Rewind TV. The station is owned by Denali Media Holdings, a subsidiary of local cable provider GCI. KTVA's transmitter ...
, the city's first
television station
A television station is a set of equipment managed by a business, organisation or other entity, such as an amateur television (ATV) operator, that transmits video content and audio content via radio waves directly from a transmitter on the earth ...
, began broadcasting in 1953. In 1954,
Alyeska Resort
Alyeska Resort is a ski resort in the Girdwood area of Anchorage, Alaska, approximately from downtown Anchorage. Mount Alyeska is part of the Chugach mountain range and the Alyeska Resort is the largest ski area in the state. It includes the m ...
was established.
On January 3, 1959, Alaska joined the union as the 49th state. Soon after, Anchorage faced a severe housing shortage, which was solved partially by suburban expansion. In January 1964, Anchorage became a City and Borough. Anchorage also has unsuccessfully bid for the
Winter Olympic Games
The Winter Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'hiver) is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were he ...
several times, with the most recent being in
1994
File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...
.
Growth and development
![AlaskaQuake-FourthAve](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4e/AlaskaQuake-FourthAve.jpg)
On March 27, 1964, Anchorage was hit by the
Good Friday earthquake
The 1964 Alaskan earthquake, also known as the Great Alaskan earthquake and Good Friday earthquake, occurred at 5:36 PM AKST on Good Friday, March 27. , which caused significant destruction.
The
magnitude
Magnitude may refer to:
Mathematics
*Euclidean vector, a quantity defined by both its magnitude and its direction
*Magnitude (mathematics), the relative size of an object
*Norm (mathematics), a term for the size or length of a vector
*Order of ...
9.2 earthquake was the largest ever recorded in
North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...
, and Anchorage lay only from its
epicenter
The epicenter, epicentre () or epicentrum in seismology is the point on the Earth's surface directly above a hypocenter or focus, the point where an earthquake or an underground explosion originates.
Surface damage
Before the instrumental pe ...
.
The earthquake killed 115 people in
Alaska
Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...
, and damage was estimated at over $300 million ($1.8 billion in 2007 U.S. dollars).
It was the second largest earthquake in the recorded history of the world.
Anchorage's recovery from the earthquake dominated life in the late 1960s.
In 1968, oil was discovered in
Prudhoe Bay
Prudhoe Bay is a census-designated place (CDP) located in North Slope Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. As of the 2010 census, the population of the CDP was 2,174 people, up from just five residents in the 2000 census; however, at any give ...
on the Arctic Slope; a 1969 oil lease sale brought billions of dollars to the state. In 1974, construction began on the
Trans-Alaska Pipeline System
The Trans-Alaska Pipeline System (TAPS) is an oil transportation system spanning Alaska, including the trans-Alaska crude-oil pipeline, 11 pump stations, several hundred miles of feeder pipelines, and the Valdez Marine Terminal. TAPS is one of ...
. The pipeline was completed in 1977 at a cost of more than $8 billion. The oil discovery and pipeline construction fueled a boom when oil and construction companies set up headquarters in Anchorage. The Anchorage International Airport also boomed as well, and Anchorage marketed itself as the "Air Crossroads of the World," due to its geographical location.
![Buildings, cars, bay Anchorage 1976](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/78/Buildings%2C_cars%2C_bay_Anchorage_1976.jpg)
In 1975, the city and borough consolidated, forming a
unified government. Also included in this unification were
Eagle River,
Eklutna
Eklutna (; Dena'ina: ''Idlughet''; Ahtna: ''Zdlaaygha'') is a native village within the Municipality of Anchorage in the U.S. state of Alaska. The Tribal Council estimates the population at 70; many tribal members live in the surrounding communit ...
,
Girdwood, Glen Alps, and several other communities. The unified area became officially known as the
municipality of Anchorage
A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate.
The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...
.
By 1980, the population of Anchorage had increased to 184,775.
The decade of the 1980s started as a time of growth, thanks to a flood of North Slope oil revenue into the state treasury. Capital projects and an aggressive beautification program, combined with far-sighted community planning, greatly increased infrastructure and quality of life. Major improvements included a new library, a civic center, a sports arena, a performing arts center,
Hilltop Ski Area
Hilltop Ski Area is a ski area in Anchorage, Alaska established in 1984. Located in Far North Bicentennial Park near Chugach State Park at the base of the Chugach Mountains, Hilltop Ski Area is owned and operated by Youth Exploring Adventure, I ...
, and Kincaid Outdoor Center.
The
1980s oil glut
The 1980s oil glut was a serious surplus of crude oil caused by falling demand following the 1970s energy crisis. The world price of oil had peaked in 1980 at over US$35 per barrel (equivalent to $ per barrel in dollars, when adjusted for inf ...
lead to an economic recession in Anchorage.
Recent history
On July 8, 2000, the airport was renamed
Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport
Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport is a major airport in the U.S. state of Alaska, located southwest of downtown Anchorage. The airport is named for Ted Stevens, a U.S. senator from Alaska in office from 1968 to 2009. It is included ...
in honor of Alaska's longest-serving senator.
Although development is filling available space in the "Anchorage bowl"—a local moniker for the city area—significant undeveloped areas still remain, as well as large areas of dedicated parks and greenbelts.
On November 30, 2018, Anchorage experienced a 7.0 magnitude quake, as well as numerous aftershocks. Some buildings and roadways were damaged, and communication and other services were partially disrupted, but no fatalities were reported. The quake, centered about five miles north of the city, was the largest to shake the area since the massive 1964 quake. A tsunami warning was issued and later withdrawn.
[https://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-anchorage-earthquake-20181130-story.html LA Times 11-30-18]
See also
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Timeline of Anchorage, Alaska
The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Anchorage, Alaska, United States.
20th century
* 1914 – Anchorage founded as a railroad construction camp.
* 1915
** Chamber of Commerce and Anchorage Memorial cemetery establishe ...
Footnotes
External links
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