History of Anchorage, Alaska
Encyclopedia
Russian purchase to U.S. Territory
Russian presence in south central Alaska was well established in the 19th century. In 1867, U. S. Secretary of State William H. SewardWilliam H. Seward
William Henry Seward, Sr. was the 12th Governor of New York, United States Senator and the United States Secretary of State under Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson...
brokered a deal to purchase Alaska
Alaska purchase
The Alaska Purchase was the acquisition of the Alaska territory by the United States from Russia in 1867 by a treaty ratified by the Senate. The purchase, made at the initiative of United States Secretary of State William H. Seward, gained of new United States territory...
from a debt-ridden Imperial Russia
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
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." By 1888, gold
Gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...
was discovered along Turnagain Arm. In 1912, Alaska became a United States Territory
United States territory
United States territory is any extent of region under the jurisdiction of the federal government of the United States, including all waters including all U.S. Naval carriers. The United States has traditionally proclaimed the sovereign rights for exploring, exploiting, conserving, and managing its...
.
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Early growth and World War II: 1930 - 1964
Between the 1930s and 1950s, air transportation became increasingly important. In 1930, Merrill FieldMerrill Field
Merrill Field is a public-use general aviation airport located one mile east of downtown Anchorage in the U.S. state of Alaska. The airport is owned by Municipality of Anchorage....
replaced the city's original "Park Strip" landing field. By the mid-1930s, Merrill Field was one of the busiest civilian
Civilian
A civilian under international humanitarian law is a person who is not a member of his or her country's armed forces or other militia. Civilians are distinct from combatants. They are afforded a degree of legal protection from the effects of war and military occupation...
airports in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. On December 10, 1951, Anchorage International Airport opened, with transpolar airline traffic flying between Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
and Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
.
Starting in the 1940s, U.S. military presence in Alaska was also greatly expanded. Elmendorf Air Force Base
Elmendorf Air Force Base
Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson is a United States military facility adjacent to Anchorage, the largest city in Alaska. It is an amalgamation of the former United States Air Force Elmendorf Air Force Base and the United States Army Fort Richardson, which were merged in 2010.-Overview:The...
and Fort Richardson were constructed. Heavy military investment occurred during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, due to the threat of Japanese invasion, and continued into the 1950 because of Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
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 light
Traffic light
Traffic lights, which may also be known as stoplights, traffic lamps, traffic signals, signal lights, robots or semaphore, are signalling devices positioned at road intersections, pedestrian crossings and other locations to control competing flows of traffic...
s were installed on Fourth Avenue. In 1951, the Seward Highway
Seward Highway
The Seward Highway is a highway in the U.S. state of Alaska that extends 127 miles from Seward to Anchorage. It was completed in 1951 and runs through the scenic Kenai Peninsula and Turnagain Arm, for which it was designated an All-American Road by the U.S...
was opened. KTVA
KTVA
KTVA, channel 11, is a station in Anchorage, Alaska. The station is the only television station owned by the MediaNews Group newspaper chain until a reorganization plan forced MediaNews to move the station to Affiliated Media, a holding company....
, the city's first television station
Television station
A television station is a business, organisation or other such as an amateur television operator that transmits content over terrestrial television. A television transmission can be by analog television signals or, more recently, by digital television. Broadcast television systems standards are...
, began broadcasting in 1953. In 1954, Alyeska Resort
Alyeska Resort
Alyeska Resort is a ski resort that is located in Girdwood, Alaska, approximately 27 miles from the city of Anchorage. Mount Alyeska is part of the Chugach mountain range...
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
Suburb
The word suburb mostly refers to a residential area, either existing as part of a city or as a separate residential community within commuting distance of a city . Some suburbs have a degree of administrative autonomy, and most have lower population density than inner city neighborhoods...
. In January 1964, Anchorage became a City and Borough.
Anchorage also has unsuccessfully bid for the Winter Olympic Games
Winter Olympic Games
The Winter Olympic Games is a sporting event, which occurs every four years. The first celebration of the Winter Olympics was held in Chamonix, France, in 1924. The original sports were alpine and cross-country skiing, figure skating, ice hockey, Nordic combined, ski jumping and speed skating...
several times, with the most recent being in 1994
1994 Winter Olympics
The 1994 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XVII Olympic Winter Games, was a winter multi-sport event celebrated from 12 to 27 February 1994 in and around Lillehammer, Norway. Lillehammer failed to win the bid for the 1992 event. Lillehammer was awarded the games in 1988, after having beat...
.
The "Good Friday Earthquake"
Moment magnitude scale
The moment magnitude scale is used by seismologists to measure the size of earthquakes in terms of the energy released. The magnitude is based on the seismic moment of the earthquake, which is equal to the rigidity of the Earth multiplied by the average amount of slip on the fault and the size of...
9.2 earthquake was the largest ever recorded in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
, and Anchorage lay only 75 miles (120 km) from its epicenter
Epicenter
The epicenter or epicentre is the point on the Earth's surface that is directly above the hypocenter or focus, the point where an earthquake or underground explosion originates...
. It killed 115 people in Alaska
Alaska
Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
, 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.
Regrowth and oil discovery: 1965 - 1999
In 1968, oil was discovered in toker Prudhoe BayPrudhoe Bay, Alaska
Prudhoe Bay or Sagavanirktok is a census-designated place 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; however, at any given time several thousand transient workers support the Prudhoe Bay oil field...
on the Arctic Slope; a 1969 oil lease sale brought billions of dollars to the state deacent. In 1974, construction began on the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System
Trans-Alaska Pipeline System
The Trans Alaska Pipeline System , includes the Trans Alaska Pipeline, 11 pump stations, several hundred miles of feeder pipelines, and the Valdez Marine Terminal. TAPS is one of the world's largest pipeline systems...
. The pipeline was completed in 1977 at a cost of more than $8 billion. The oil discovery and pipeline construction fueled a modern-day boon 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 unique geographical location.
In 1975, the city and borough consolidated, forming a unified government. Also included in this unification were Eagle River
Eagle River, Alaska
Eagle River is a community within the Municipality of Anchorage situated on the Eagle River for which it is named, between Fort Richardson and Chugach State Park in the Chugach Mountains. Its ZIP code is 99577...
, Eklutna
Eklutna, Alaska
Eklutna 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 communities....
, Girdwood
Girdwood, Alaska
Girdwood is an unincorporated year-round ski resort community within the Municipality of Anchorage in the U.S. state of Alaska. It lies in a valley in the Chugach Mountains near the end of the Turnagain Arm of Cook Inlet, 36 miles southeast of Anchorage proper.It is surrounded by seven permanent...
, Glen Alps, and several other communities. The unified area became officially known as the Municipality of Anchorage. 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
Library
In a traditional sense, a library is a large collection of books, and can refer to the place in which the collection is housed. Today, the term can refer to any collection, including digital sources, resources, and services...
, a civic center
Civic center
A civic center or civic centre is a prominent land area within a community that is constructed to be its focal point or center. It usually contains one or more dominant public buildings, which may also include a government building...
, a sports arena
Arena
An arena is an enclosed area, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theater, musical performances, or sporting events. It is composed of a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for spectators. The key feature of an arena is that the event space is the...
, a performing arts center
Performing arts center
Performing arts center, often abbreviated PAC, is used to refer to* A multi-use performance space that is intended for use by various types of the performing arts, including dance, music and theatre....
, Hilltop Ski Area
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, Inc., an Anchorage nonprofit 501 organization...
, and Kincaid Outdoor Center. In the late 1980s, however, the price of oil dropped dramatically and a recession hit Anchorage.
Eagle River, Alaska
Eagle River is a community within the Municipality of Anchorage situated on the Eagle River for which it is named, between Fort Richardson and Chugach State Park in the Chugach Mountains. Its ZIP code is 99577...
and, in 1999, the Alaska Native Heritage Center
Alaska Native Heritage Center
The Alaska Native Heritage Center is an educational and cultural institution for all Alaskans, located in Anchorage, Alaska. The center opened in 1999. The Alaska Native Heritage Center shares the heritage of Alaska's 11 major cultural groups....
opened.
The 21st century
On July 8, 2000, the airport was renamed "Ted Stevens Anchorage International AirportTed Stevens Anchorage International Airport
-Top destinations:-Scheduled cargo airlines:-Top destinations:-Scheduled cargo airlines:-Top destinations:-Scheduled cargo airlines:-Inter-terminal:...
" in honor of Alaska's longest-serving United States Senator, Ted Stevens
Ted Stevens
Theodore Fulton "Ted" Stevens, Sr. was a United States Senator from Alaska, serving from December 24, 1968, until January 3, 2009, and thus the longest-serving Republican senator in history...
. 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.
See also
- History of AlaskaHistory of AlaskaThe history of Alaska dates back to the Upper Paleolithic period , when Asiatic groups crossed the Bering land bridge into what is now western Alaska. At the time of European contact by the Russian explorers, the area was populated by Alaska Native groups...
Category:History of Anchorage, Alaska