Anchorage Alaska History

Located in the heart of the wilderness, human occupation in the Anchorage area existed for thousands of years. First European contact was in 1756, and Russian explorers arrived by 1784. English Explorer Captain James Cook is credited with a written record of a description of Anchorage in 1778 in his third voyage of discovery. George Vancouver, another British explorer, named many of the areas in Southeast Alaska. For the next 100 years, the Russians conducted a lucrative trading industry in furs, lumber and ice, but by 1867 financial hardship forced the sale of Alaska to the United States for $7.2 million. New residents came to South Central Alaska in search of gold. In 1915 President Woodrow Wilson authorized funds for the construction of the Alaska Railroad (completed in 1923) and a tent city sprang up at the mouth of Ship Creek. In 1915, 600 lots were auctioned in the Anchorage Township, formally named by the U.S. Post Office. In the 1930s, the city struggled to recover from a population loss and economic depression of WWI. In 1940, the military expanded bases against possible Japanese invasion. Between 1940 and 1951, Anchorage’s population grew from 3,000 to 47,000. The Good Friday 8.6 earthquake in March 27th, 1964 brought great destruction and took the city many years to recover. The development of the Prudhoe Bay oil fields in northern Alaska, the building of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline in the 1970s, and the construction of the Anchorage International Airport provided a great economic boom. In the mid 1980s, the Hilltop Ski Area, Alyeska Ski Resort in Girdwood, and the Alpenglow Ski Area were constructed, providing residents and visitors winter activities. Tourism and recreational facilities continues year round, bringing millions of visitors from all around the world.