102-537: The Seward Highway is a highway in the U.S. state of Alaska that extends 125 miles (201 km) 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 Highway is numbered Alaska Route 9 ( AK-9 ) for the first 37 miles (60 km) from Seward to the Sterling Highway and AK-1 for
204-458: A moment magnitude of 9.2 (more than a thousand times as powerful as the 1989 San Francisco earthquake ). The time of day (5:36 pm), time of year (spring) and location of the epicenter were all cited as factors in potentially sparing thousands of lives, particularly in Anchorage. Alaska suffered a more severe megathrust earthquake on July 11, 1585, estimated at magnitude 9.25, which remains
306-409: A territory on May 11, 1912. It was admitted as the 49th state of the U.S. on January 3, 1959. Abundant natural resources have enabled Alaska— with one of the smallest state economies—to have one of the highest per capita incomes , with commercial fishing , and the extraction of natural gas and oil, dominating Alaska's economy . U.S. Armed Forces bases and tourism also contribute to
408-552: A census-designated place (CDP). As of the 2000 census, there were 93 people, 33 households, and 29 families residing in the CDP. The population density was 2.5 inhabitants per square mile (0.97/km ). There were 47 housing units at an average density of 1.3 per square mile (0.50/km ). The racial makeup of the CDP was 91.40% White , 3.23% Native American , 1.08% Asian , 1.08% Pacific Islander , and 3.23% from two or more races. There were 33 households, out of which 42.4% had children under
510-399: A convoy to Valdez. On the advice of military and civilian leaders, President Lyndon B. Johnson declared all of Alaska a major disaster area the day after the quake. The U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast Guard deployed ships to isolated coastal communities to assist with immediate needs. Bad weather and poor visibility hampered air rescue and observation efforts the day after the quake, but on Sunday
612-635: A junction with the Portage Glacier Highway , and remain until the highway becomes a freeway, in southern Anchorage. The Seward Highway proceeds through central Bear Creek, passing Bear Lake , until entering Chugach National Forest. The Seward Highway enters the Chugach National Forest just 5 miles (8.0 km) after its start. The highway enters the Chugach National Forest while it is still part of
714-469: A longer coastline than all the other U.S. states combined. At 663,268 square miles (1,717,856 km ) in total area, Alaska is by far the largest state in the United States. Alaska is more than twice the size of the second-largest U.S. state (Texas), and it is larger than the next three largest states (Texas, California, and Montana) combined. Alaska is the seventh largest subnational division in
816-813: A massive underwater landslide, resulting in the deaths of 32 people between the collapse of the Valdez city harbor and docks, and inside the ship that was docked there at the time. Nearby, a 27-foot (8.2 m) tsunami destroyed the village of Chenega , killing 23 of the 68 people who lived there; survivors out-ran the wave, climbing to high ground. Post-quake tsunamis severely affected Whittier , Seward , Kodiak, and other Alaskan communities, as well as people and property in British Columbia, Washington , Oregon , and California . Tsunamis also caused damage in Hawaii and Japan . Evidence of motion directly related to
918-532: A plant nursery, and Rabbit Creek Elementary School. At an exit for De Armoun Road, the highway's frontage road begins. The freeway continues past dozens of neighborhoods, a few small businesses, and provides exits for a few small roads, including the Minnesota Drive Expressway . After the exit for Abbott Road, part of the frontage road terminates. The route then passes through a more commercial area of Anchorage, passing several warehouses. At
1020-670: A population that was genetically separate from other native groups present elsewhere in the New World at the end of the Pleistocene . Ben Potter, the University of Alaska Fairbanks archaeologist who unearthed the remains at the Upward Sun River site in 2013, named this new group Ancient Beringian . The Tlingit people developed a society with a matrilineal kinship system of property inheritance and descent in what
1122-611: A short period as 5th Avenue, before becoming known as the Glenn Highway . An 18-mile-long (29 km) stretch of the Seward Highway, traveling from Seward to Kenai Lake was completed in 1923. Another segment of the highway, running between Moose Pass and Hope, was completed in 1928. The Mile 18 bridge, nicknamed "The Missing Link", which would connect the Seward and Moose Pass portions, was not completed until 1946, which
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#17327652408021224-649: A total of 50 Aleut civilians and eight sailors were interned in Japan. About half of the Aleuts died during the period of internment. Unalaska / Dutch Harbor and Adak became significant bases for the United States Army , United States Army Air Forces and United States Navy. The United States Lend-Lease program involved flying American warplanes through Canada to Fairbanks and then Nome ; Soviet pilots took possession of these aircraft, ferrying them to fight
1326-651: A western maritime border, in the Bering Strait , with Russia's Chukotka Autonomous Okrug . The Chukchi and Beaufort Seas of the Arctic Ocean lie to the north, and the Pacific Ocean lies to the south. Technically, it is a semi-exclave of the U.S., and is the largest exclave in the world. Alaska is the largest U.S. state by area, comprising more total area than the following three largest states of Texas , California , and Montana combined, and
1428-415: Is a U.S. Bicycle Route located along Alaska Route 1 . The bike route runs alongside the Seward Highway along the entire length of the highway. The bike route was created in 2011. All exits are unnumbered. The Old Seward Highway is a nearly 8-mile-long (13 km) former routing of the Seward Highway. The road is located entirely within the corporate limits of Anchorage, with a southern terminus near
1530-548: Is a four-lane road, but then merges back to two lane. After passing through about 10 miles (16 km) of forest, the highway passes Primrose Spur Road, and enters Primrose . For the next five or so miles (8 km), the route runs on a thin strip of land between the mountains and Kenai Lake . At the northern end of Kenai Lake, the route passes through Crown Point , and provides access to a large campground where Trail Creek empties into Kenai Lake. The highway runs alongside Trail Creek for about 6 miles (9.7 km), before passing
1632-454: Is also designated Interstate A-1 (A-1) and included in the NHS on that basis. The state's Interstate Highways are not required to comply with Interstate Highway standards , instead "shall be designed in accordance with such geometric and construction standards as are adequate for current and probable future traffic demands and the needs of the locality of the highway" under federal law. The highway
1734-463: Is at this point that the road begins to climb into the actual mountains to approach Turnagain Pass . For several miles, the roadway continues through large, Alaskan spruce forests. After approximately 10 miles (16 km), the highway passes Summit Lake , and provides access to another large campground. The road then continues through the mountains. After about 8 miles (13 km), the route intersects
1836-797: Is based on the testimony of Chukchi geographer Nikolai Daurkin, who had visited Alaska in 1764–1765 and who had reported on a village on the Kheuveren River, populated by "bearded men" who "pray to the icons ". Some modern researchers associate Kheuveren with Koyuk River . The first European vessel to reach Alaska is generally held to be the St. Gabriel under the authority of the surveyor M. S. Gvozdev and assistant navigator I. Fyodorov on August 21, 1732, during an expedition of Siberian Cossack A. F. Shestakov and Russian explorer Dmitry Pavlutsky (1729–1735). Another European contact with Alaska occurred in 1741, when Vitus Bering led an expedition for
1938-884: Is bordered by Canada's Yukon and British Columbia to the east (making it the only state to border only a Canadian territory ); the Gulf of Alaska and the Pacific Ocean to the south and southwest; the Bering Sea , Bering Strait , and Chukchi Sea to the west; and the Arctic Ocean to the north. Alaska's territorial waters touch Russia's territorial waters in the Bering Strait, as the Russian Big Diomede Island and Alaskan Little Diomede Island are only 3 miles (4.8 km) apart. Alaska has
2040-492: Is divided into boroughs . Delegates to the Alaska Constitutional Convention wanted to avoid the pitfalls of the traditional county system and adopted their own unique model. Many of the more densely populated parts of the state are part of Alaska's 16 boroughs, which function somewhat similarly to counties in other states. Unlike county-equivalents in the other states, the boroughs do not cover
2142-569: Is home to Mount Shishaldin , which is an occasionally smoldering volcano that rises to 10,000 feet (3,000 m) above the North Pacific. The chain of volcanoes extends to Mount Spurr , west of Anchorage on the mainland. Geologists have identified Alaska as part of Wrangellia , a large region consisting of multiple states and Canadian provinces in the Pacific Northwest , which is actively undergoing continent building . One of
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#17327652408022244-629: Is known for its massive reserves of crude oil and contains both the National Petroleum Reserve–Alaska and the Prudhoe Bay Oil Field . The city of Utqiaġvik , formerly known as Barrow, is the northernmost city in the United States and is located here. The Northwest Arctic area , anchored by Kotzebue and also containing the Kobuk River valley, is often considered part of this region. The respective Inupiat of
2346-547: Is maintained by the Alaska Department of Transportation & Public Facilities (Alaska DOT&PF), and the A-1 designation is not signed along the highway. In 2010, 2,520 vehicles used the highway near the junction with Sterling Highway in a measure of the annual average daily traffic , the lowest tally along the highway. The highest traffic count as recorded by Alaska DOT&PF was 58,799 vehicles daily at
2448-455: Is maintained by the Office of History and Archaeology. The survey's inventory of cultural resources includes objects, structures, buildings, sites, districts, and travel ways, with a general provision that they are more than fifty years old. As of 31 January 2012 , more than 35,000 sites have been reported. Alaska is not divided into counties , as most of the other U.S. states, but it
2550-516: Is now Southeast Alaska , became the capital of Russian America . It remained the capital after the colony was transferred to the United States. The Russians never fully colonized Alaska, and the colony was never very profitable. Evidence of Russian settlement in names and churches survives throughout southeastern Alaska. In 1867, William H. Seward , the United States Secretary of State under President Andrew Johnson , negotiated
2652-617: Is owned and managed by the U.S. federal government as public lands, including a multitude of national forests , national parks, and national wildlife refuges . Of these, the Bureau of Land Management manages 87 million acres (35 million hectares), or 23.8% of the state. The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is managed by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service . It is the world's largest wildlife refuge, comprising 16 million acres (6.5 million hectares). Of
2754-532: Is proportionally the second highest of any U.S. state, at over 15 percent, after only Hawaii. The name "Alaska" ( Russian : Аля́ска , romanized : Aljáska ) was introduced during the Russian colonial period when it was used to refer to the Alaska Peninsula . It was derived from an Aleut-language idiom , alaxsxaq , meaning "the mainland" or, more literally, "the object towards which
2856-580: Is technically part of the continental U.S. , but is not usually included in the colloquial use of the term; Alaska is not part of the contiguous U.S. , often called " the Lower 48 ". The capital city, Juneau , is situated on the mainland of the North American continent but is not connected by road to the rest of the North American highway system. The largest lake in Alaska is Lake Illiamna . The state
2958-406: Is the seventh-largest subnational division in the world . It is the third-least populous and most sparsely populated U.S. state, but is, with a population of 736,081 as of 2020 , the continent's most populous territory located mostly north of the 60th parallel , with more than quadruple the combined populations of Northern Canada and Greenland . The state contains the four largest cities in
3060-618: Is the largest glacier in North America, covering 2,008 square miles (5,200 km ) alone. There are no officially defined borders demarcating the various regions of Alaska, but there are five/six regions that the state is most commonly broken up into: The most populous region of Alaska contains Anchorage , the Matanuska-Susitna Valley and the Kenai Peninsula . Rural, mostly unpopulated areas south of
3162-596: Is the northernmost and westernmost state in the United States, but also has the most easterly longitude in the United States because the Aleutian Islands extend into the Eastern Hemisphere . Alaska is the only non- contiguous U.S. state on continental North America; about 500 miles (800 km) of Canadian territory consisting of British Columbia (in Canada ) separates Alaska from Washington . It
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3264-614: Is today Southeast Alaska, along with parts of British Columbia and the Yukon . Also in Southeast were the Haida , now well known for their unique arts. The Tsimshian people came to Alaska from British Columbia in 1887, when President Grover Cleveland , and later the U.S. Congress, granted them permission to settle on Annette Island and found the town of Metlakatla, Alaska . All three of these peoples, as well as other indigenous peoples of
3366-650: The Exxon Valdez hit a reef in the Prince William Sound, spilling more than 11 million gallons (42 megalitres) of crude oil over 1,100 miles (1,800 km) of coastline. Today, the battle between philosophies of development and conservation is seen in the contentious debate over oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and the proposed Pebble Mine . Located at the northwest corner of North America , Alaska
3468-650: The Alaska Peninsula are considered part of the Southwest, with the Aleutian Islands often (but not always) being grouped in as well. While primarily part of Southwest Alaska when grouped economically, the Aleutian islands are sometimes recognized as an alternate group from the rest of the region due to the geographic separation from the continent. More than 300 small volcanic islands make up this chain, which stretches more than 1,200 miles (1,900 km) into
3570-755: The Alaska Purchase (referred to pejoratively as Seward's Folly) with the Russians for $ 7.2 million. Russia's contemporary ruler Tsar Alexander II , the Emperor of the Russian Empire , King of Poland and Grand Duke of Finland , also planned the sale; the purchase was made on March 30, 1867. Six months later the commissioners arrived in Sitka and the formal transfer was arranged; the formal flag-raising took place at Fort Sitka on October 18, 1867. In
3672-631: The Alaska Purchase . The region is dominated by the Alexander Archipelago as well as the Tongass National Forest , the largest national forest in the United States. It contains the state capital Juneau , the former capital Sitka , and Ketchikan , at one time Alaska's largest city. The Alaska Marine Highway provides a vital surface transportation link throughout the area and country, as only three communities ( Haines , Hyder and Skagway ) enjoy direct connections to
3774-669: The Alaska Range and west of the Wrangell Mountains also fall within the definition of South Central, as do the Prince William Sound area and the communities of Cordova and Valdez . Also referred to as the Panhandle or Inside Passage , this is the region of Alaska closest to the contiguous states. As such, this was where most of the initial non-indigenous settlement occurred in the years following
3876-555: The Hope Highway , which provides access to the city of Hope , and the highway reenters forest. The route continues through the mountains for about 24 miles (39 km) more, before a steep decline, at which point the highway exits the Kenai Peninsula and continues along the shores Turnagain Arm . Just after reaching Turnagain Arm, the highway enters the city limits of Anchorage (and remains within Anchorage proper for
3978-667: The National Wildlife Refuge system , parts of 25 rivers to the National Wild and Scenic Rivers system , 3.3 million acres (13,000 km ) to National Forest lands , and 43.6 million acres (176,000 km ) to National Park land . Because of the Act, Alaska now contains two-thirds of all American national parklands. Today, more than half of Alaskan land is owned by the Federal Government . In 1989,
4080-561: The Potter Section House , and a northern terminus in the Midtown neighborhood. Both of this highway's termini are points on the Seward Highway. The highway was created in 1951, along with most of the current Seward Highway. The Old Seward Highway begins at an intersection with Potter Valley Road, less than 500 feet from Potter Valley Road's own terminus with the (new) Seward Highway. From there, Old Seward Highway curves along
4182-594: The Seward Highway . Primrose is located on the eastern part of the Kenai Peninsula at 60°20′36″N 149°20′39″W / 60.34333°N 149.34417°W / 60.34333; -149.34417 (60.343405, -149.344250), at the mouth of the Snow River in Kenai Lake . It is bordered to the north by Crown Point and to the south by Bear Creek . Alaska Route 9, the Seward Highway , runs through
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4284-554: The United States Secretary of Transportation . The length of the highway traveling from the AK-1 and AK-9 intersection to the northern terminus is designated as Interstate A-3 by the National Highway System . In July 2016, Alaska DOT&PF officials posted updated speed limits on a five-mile (8.0 km) section of the Seward Highway south of Anchorage between Hope Junction to the top of Turnagain Pass. The limit in
4386-527: The Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii . Alaska is also considered to be the northernmost, westernmost, and easternmost (the Aleutian Islands cross the 180th meridian into the eastern hemisphere) state in the United States. It borders the Canadian territory of Yukon and the province of British Columbia to the east. It shares
4488-418: The public record in Alaska. The state is divided into 34 recording districts which are centrally administered under a state recorder . All recording districts use the same acceptance criteria, fee schedule, etc., for accepting documents into the public record. Whereas many U.S. states use a three-tiered system of decentralization—state/county/township—most of Alaska uses only two tiers—state/borough. Owing to
4590-469: The 29th the situation improved and rescue helicopters and observation aircraft were deployed. A military airlift immediately began shipping relief supplies to Alaska, eventually delivering 2,570,000 pounds (1,170,000 kg) of food and other supplies. Broadcast journalist, Genie Chance , assisted in recovery and relief efforts, staying on the KENI air waves over Anchorage for more than 24 continuous hours as
4692-675: The Alaska Division of Emergency Services to respond to any future disasters. The 1968 discovery of oil at Prudhoe Bay and the 1977 completion of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System led to an oil boom. Royalty revenues from oil have funded large state budgets from 1980 onward. Oil production was not the only economic value of Alaska's land. In the second half of the 20th century, Alaska discovered tourism as an important source of revenue. Tourism became popular after World War II when military personnel stationed in
4794-464: The Bear Creek community, so it gives the appearance of still being inside that census-designated place . After a mile or so (1.6 km) though, the area surrounding the highway begins to look more like a national forest . The Alaska Railroad weaves back and forth under the highway, which causes the highway to traverse a series of small bridges. For a few miles after the bridges, the Seward Highway
4896-609: The Campbell/Taku neighborhood. The road proceeds north into Midtown, traveling through the neighborhood to the highway's northern terminus, an intersection with 33rd Avenue near the Moose's Tooth Pub and Pizzeria . An exit ramp from the New Seward Highway serves as the beginning of the southbound lanes. The Old Seward Highway was created in 1951, as part of the original routing of the Seward Highway. Beginning in 1976,
4998-417: The Dowling Road overpass in Anchorage. In 2012, Life magazine included the Seward Highway in its list of Most Scenic Drives in the World. The Seward Highway begins at an intersection with Railway Avenue, in Seward , less than 300 feet (91 m) from Resurrection Bay . At this point, the Seward Highway is two lanes, with a parking lane on each side. The Seward Highway is designated as AK-9 at this point of
5100-558: The German invasion of the Soviet Union . The construction of military bases contributed to the population growth of some Alaskan cities. Statehood for Alaska was an important cause of James Wickersham early in his tenure as a congressional delegate. Decades later, the statehood movement gained its first real momentum following a territorial referendum in 1946. The Alaska Statehood Committee and Alaska's Constitutional Convention would soon follow. Statehood supporters also found themselves fighting major battles against political foes, mostly in
5202-407: The North Slope and of the Northwest Arctic seldom consider themselves to be one people. Southwest Alaska is a sparsely inhabited region stretching some 500 miles (800 km) inland from the Bering Sea. Most of the population lives along the coast. Kodiak Island is also located in the Southwest. The massive Yukon–Kuskokwim Delta , one of the largest river deltas in the world, is here. Portions of
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#17327652408025304-507: The Pacific Northwest Coast , experienced smallpox outbreaks from the late 18th through the mid- 19th century , with the most devastating epidemics occurring in the 1830s and 1860s, resulting in high fatalities and social disruption. Some researchers believe the first Russian settlement in Alaska was established in the 17th century. According to this hypothesis, in 1648 several koches of Semyon Dezhnyov 's expedition came ashore in Alaska by storm and founded this settlement. This hypothesis
5406-415: The Pacific Northwest. In 1789, a Spanish settlement and fort were built in Nootka Sound . These expeditions gave names to places such as Valdez , Bucareli Sound , and Cordova . Later, the Russian-American Company carried out an expanded colonization program during the early-to-mid-19th century. Sitka , renamed New Archangel from 1804 to 1867, on Baranof Island in the Alexander Archipelago in what
5508-439: The Pacific Ocean. Some of these islands fall in the Eastern Hemisphere, but the International Date Line was drawn west of 180° to keep the whole state, and thus the entire North American continent, within the same legal day. Two of the islands, Attu and Kiska , were occupied by Japanese forces during World War II. According to an October 1998 report by the United States Bureau of Land Management , approximately 65% of Alaska
5610-438: The Portage curve toward Turnagain Pass ending at Ingram Creek. In July 2015 a tour bus crash at milepost 79 killed one man and critically injured several others, causing a 10-hour traffic jam. During the summer months, up to 15,000 vehicles use this 15-mile (24 km) stretch of Seward Highway daily. Seward Highway is part of the unsigned part of the Interstate Highway System as Interstate A-3. United States Bicycle Route 97
5712-401: The Russian Navy aboard the St. Peter . After his crew returned to Russia with sea otter pelts judged to be the finest fur in the world, small associations of fur traders began to sail from the shores of Siberia toward the Aleutian Islands. The first permanent European settlement was founded in 1784. Between 1774 and 1800, Spain sent several expeditions to Alaska to assert its claim over
5814-425: The Seward Highway has been listed on the National Highway System (NHS), a network of roads important to the country's economy, defense, and mobility. The segment designated AK-9 between Seward and Tern Lake Junction is part of the STRAHNET subsystem, highways that are important to defense policy and which provide defense access, continuity and emergency capabilities for defense purposes. The remainder that follows AK-1
5916-436: The U.S. Congress but also within Alaska. Statehood was approved by the U.S. Congress on July 7, 1958; Alaska was officially proclaimed a state on January 3, 1959. On March 27, 1964, the massive Good Friday earthquake killed 133 people and destroyed several villages and portions of large coastal communities, mainly by the resultant tsunamis and landslides. It was the fourth-most-powerful earthquake in recorded history, with
6018-434: The United States by area , including the state capital of Juneau . The state's most populous city is Anchorage , and approximately half of Alaska's residents live within its metropolitan area . Indigenous people have lived in Alaska for thousands of years, and it is widely believed that the region served as the entry point for the initial settlement of North America by way of the Bering land bridge . The Russian Empire
6120-446: The action of the sea is directed". Numerous indigenous peoples occupied Alaska for thousands of years before the arrival of European peoples to the area. Linguistic and DNA studies done here have provided evidence for the settlement of North America by way of the Bering land bridge . At the Upward Sun River site in the Tanana Valley in Alaska, remains of a six-week-old infant were found. The baby's DNA showed that she belonged to
6222-415: The age of 18 living with them, 75.8% were married couples living together, 6.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 12.1% were non-families. 9.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and none had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.82 and the average family size was 3.00. In the CDP, the population was spread out, with 34.4% under
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#17327652408026324-454: The age of 18, 1.1% from 18 to 24, 24.7% from 25 to 44, 28.0% from 45 to 64, and 11.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females, there were 93.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.8 males. The median income for a household in the CDP was $ 66,111, and the median income for a family was $ 66,944. Males had a median income of $ 48,472 versus $ 0 for females. The per capita income for
6426-406: The bottom of this section lists the 100 largest cities and census-designated places in Alaska, in population order. Primrose, Alaska Primrose is a census-designated place (CDP) in Kenai Peninsula Borough , Alaska , United States. The population was 78 at the 2010 census , down from 93 at the 2000 census. Primrose is one of a number of small communities located north of Seward along
6528-439: The ceremony, 250 uniformed U.S. soldiers marched to the governor's house at "Castle Hill", where the Russian troops lowered the Russian flag and the U.S. flag was raised. This event is celebrated as Alaska Day , a legal holiday on October 18. Alaska was loosely governed by the military initially and was administered as a district starting in 1884, with a governor appointed by the United States president. A federal district court
6630-422: The city proper and the communities of Eagle River, Chugiak, Peters Creek, Girdwood, Bird, and Indian. Fairbanks has a separate borough (the Fairbanks North Star Borough ) and municipality (the City of Fairbanks). The state's most populous city is Anchorage , home to 291,247 people in 2020. The richest location in Alaska by per capita income is Denali ($ 42,245). Yakutat City , Sitka, Juneau, and Anchorage are
6732-429: The community, disseminating information about shelters and prepared food rations, passing messages of well-being between loved ones, and helping to reunite families. In the longer term, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers led the effort to rebuild roads, clear debris, and establish new townsites for communities that had been completely destroyed, at a cost of $ 110 million. The West Coast and Alaska Tsunami Warning Center
6834-409: The community, leading south 18 miles (29 km) to Seward and north the same distance to Alaska Route 1 at Tern Lake. According to the United States Census Bureau , the Primrose CDP has a total area of 38.2 square miles (99.0 km ), of which 34.5 square miles (89.3 km ) are land and 1.0 square mile (2.7 km ), or 2.92%, are water. Primrose first appeared on the 1990 U.S. Census as
6936-410: The contiguous North American road system. The Interior is the largest region of Alaska; much of it is uninhabited wilderness. Fairbanks is the only large city in the region. Denali National Park and Preserve is located here. Denali , formerly Mount McKinley, is the highest mountain in North America and is also located here. The North Slope is mostly tundra peppered with small villages. The area
7038-402: The damage done by the earthquake to the city. The team, called the Engineering and Geological Evaluation Group, was headed by Ruth A. M. Schmidt , a geology professor at the University of Alaska Anchorage . The team of scientists came into conflict with local developers and downtown business owners who wanted to immediately rebuild; the scientists wanted to identify future dangers to ensure that
7140-439: The earthquake was also reported from Florida and Texas . Alaska had never experienced a major disaster in a highly populated area before and had very limited resources for dealing with the effects of such an event. In Anchorage, at the urging of geologist Lidia Selkregg , the City of Anchorage and the Alaska State Housing Authority appointed a team of 40 scientists, including geologists, soil scientists, and engineers, to assess
7242-475: The east side of Potter Marsh opposite the New Seward Highway (on the west side) before intersecting Rabbit Creek Road, again less than a 1/4 mile from the New Seward Highway, which is at this point a four-lane freeway. From there, Old Seward Highway travels northwest over the New Seward Highway and through the neighborhood of Oceanview. The route bends north, running parallel to the New Seward Highway. The roadway intersects O'Malley Road and continues northward through
7344-466: The economy; more than half of the state is federally-owned land containing national forests , national parks , and wildlife refuges . It is among the most irreligious states , one of the first to legalize recreational marijuana , and is known for its libertarian-leaning political culture, generally supporting the Republican Party in national elections. The Indigenous population of Alaska
7446-488: The forest. The Seward Highway passes along the coast of Cook Inlet for about 12 miles (19 km), with the Kenai Mountains running along the northern side. The highway then proceeds to enter the suburban area of Anchorage . The highway intersects Old Seward Highway, before becoming a four-lane freeway . The freeway's first exit is, in fact, for Old Seward Highway. The freeway continues past several neighborhoods,
7548-481: The four largest cities in the U.S. by area . As reflected in the 2020 United States census , Alaska has a total of 355 incorporated cities and census-designated places (CDPs). The tally of cities includes four unified municipalities, essentially the equivalent of a consolidated city–county . The majority of these communities are located in the rural expanse of Alaska known as " The Bush " and are unconnected to that contiguous North American road network. The table at
7650-410: The freeway's final exit, for Tudor Road, the rest of the frontage roads either begin or terminate. The freeway ends at the highway's intersection with East 36th Avenue. About a half a mile (1 km) later, the highway splits into Ingra Street (northbound), and Gambell Street (southbound). The Seward Highway officially reaches its northern terminus at an intersection with 5th Avenue. AK-1 continues on for
7752-707: The highway and its bridges were raised and rebuilt in 1964–66. The highway was designated a National Forest Scenic Byway by the United States Forest Service on September 8, 1989. Later, the State of Alaska added it to the State Scenic Byway system on January 29, 1993. The final designation was added on June 15, 2000, when the Seward Highway was named an All-American Road as part of the National Scenic Byway program by
7854-506: The highway exits the National Forest, it continues for about 5 miles (8.0 km) through spruce forest, before passing the community of Girdwood . After about a mile, the highway enters Chugach State Park . The road continues through forest for about 10 miles (16 km) more, before passing the small skiing village of Bird . The route reenters the park for about a mile, before entering the village of Indian , and then reentering
7956-432: The largest private landowner in Alaska in advertisements and other communications. Provisions of ANCSA allowing the corporations' land holdings to be sold on the open market starting in 1991 were repealed before they could take effect. Effectively, the corporations hold title (including subsurface title in many cases, a privilege denied to individual Alaskans) but cannot sell the land. Individual Native allotments are sold on
8058-637: The low population density, most of the land is located in the Unorganized Borough . As the name implies, it has no intermediate borough government but is administered directly by the state government. In 2000, 57.71% of Alaska's area has this status, with 13.05% of the population. Anchorage merged the city government with the Greater Anchorage Area Borough in 1975 to form the Municipality of Anchorage, containing
8160-808: The most powerful earthquake recorded in North American history, and the second most powerful earthquake recorded in world history. The Good Friday earthquake lasted 4 minutes and 38 seconds. Six hundred miles (970 km) of fault ruptured at once and moved up to 60 ft (18 m), releasing about 500 years of stress buildup. Soil liquefaction , fissures, landslides, and other ground failures caused major structural damage in several communities and much damage to property. Anchorage sustained great destruction or damage to many inadequately earthquake-engineered houses, buildings, and infrastructure (paved streets, sidewalks, water and sewer mains, electrical systems, and other human-made equipment), particularly in
8262-522: The often remote and roadless locations. The University of Alaska , as a land grant university , also owns substantial acreage which it manages independently. Another 44 million acres (18 million hectares) are owned by 12 regional, and scores of local, Native corporations created under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) of 1971. Regional Native corporation Doyon, Limited often promotes itself as
8364-412: The open market. Various private interests own the remaining land, totaling about one percent of the state. Alaska is, by a large margin, the state with the smallest percentage of private land ownership when Native corporation holdings are excluded. The Alaska Heritage Resources Survey (AHRS) is a restricted inventory of all reported historic and prehistoric sites within the U.S. state of Alaska; it
8466-428: The rebuilt infrastructure would be safe. The team produced a report on May 8, 1964, just a little more than a month after the earthquake. The United States military, which has a large active presence in Alaska, also stepped in to assist within moments of the end of the quake. The U.S. Army rapidly re-established communications with the lower 48 states, deployed troops to assist the citizens of Anchorage, and dispatched
8568-602: The region returned home praising its natural splendor. The Alcan Highway , built during the war, and the Alaska Marine Highway System , completed in 1963, made the state more accessible than before. Tourism has become increasingly important in Alaska, and today over 1.4 million people visit the state each year. With tourism more vital to the economy, environmentalism also rose in importance. The Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA) of 1980 added 53.7 million acres (217,000 km ) to
8670-628: The remainder of its route). After intersecting the Portage Glacier Highway the Alaska Railroad tracks again come alongside the route. The highway continues through the Chugach National Forest for approximately 8 miles (13 km), passing the Turnagain Arm to the west, and the Kenai Mountains to the east. It then exits the Chugach National Forest, having spent approximately 72 miles (116 km) inside its boundaries. After
8772-482: The remaining distance to Anchorage. At the junction with the Sterling Highway, AK-1 turns west towards Sterling and Homer . About eight miles (13 km) of the Seward Highway leading into Anchorage is built to freeway standards. In Anchorage, the Seward Highway terminates at an intersection with 5th Avenue, which AK-1 is routed to, and which then leads to the Glenn Highway freeway. The full length of
8874-514: The remaining land area, the state of Alaska owns 101 million acres (41 million hectares), its entitlement under the Alaska Statehood Act . A portion of that acreage is occasionally ceded to the organized boroughs presented above, under the statutory provisions pertaining to newly formed boroughs. Smaller portions are set aside for rural subdivisions and other homesteading-related opportunities. These are not very popular due to
8976-431: The right lane is 55 mph (89 km/h), while that in the left lane is 65 mph (105 km/h). The project is designed to enhance safety and improve congestion by enforcing passing lane usage. In 2017, Alaska DOT&PF announced a four-year Milepost 75–90 Rehabilitation Project, scheduled to begin in 2018, to make major safety improvements to a busy crash-prone section of the Seward Highway from Girdwood to beyond
9078-548: The route. The highway continues through downtown Seward and residential areas. The highway continues past the Seward Airport and Exit Glacier road , before entering the unincorporated community of Bear Creek . Just after entering Bear Creek, a series of tracks belonging to the Alaska Railroad comes alongside the roadway. These railroad tracks continue on with the Seward Highway until Moose Pass , return near
9180-476: The settlement of Moose Pass . The road continues, passing along Upper Trail Lake for a few miles, before returning to the dense forest, and passing a large mountain range. After a few more miles, the road passes the Tern Lake Junction, and intersects with Alaska Route 1 (AK-1) (also known as the Sterling Highway ), where Alaska Route 9 terminates, and the Seward Highway is designated to AK-1. It
9282-443: The several landslide zones along Knik Arm . Two hundred miles (320 km) southwest, some areas near Kodiak were permanently raised by 30 feet (9 m). Southeast of Anchorage, areas around the head of Turnagain Arm near Girdwood and Portage dropped as much as 8 feet (2.4 m), requiring reconstruction and fill to raise the Seward Highway above the new high tide mark. In Prince William Sound , Port Valdez suffered
9384-505: The state of Alaska designated three projects to reroute a large portion of the Seward Highway. This rerouting would bypass the section of the highway that is now the Old Seward Highway. The final portion of the rerouting was completed in early June 1998. Alaska Alaska ( / ə ˈ l æ s k ə / ə- LASS -kə ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America . Part of
9486-470: The state's entire land area. The area not part of any borough is referred to as the Unorganized Borough . The Unorganized Borough has no government of its own, but the U.S. Census Bureau in cooperation with the state divided the Unorganized Borough into 11 census areas solely for the purposes of statistical analysis and presentation. A recording district is a mechanism for management of
9588-522: The voice of calm from her temporary post within the Anchorage Public Safety Building. She was effectively designated as the public safety officer by the city's police chief. Chance provided breaking news of the catastrophic events that continued to develop following the magnitude 9.2 earthquake, and she served as the voice of the public safety office, coordinating response efforts, connecting available resources to needs around
9690-476: The world . If it was an independent nation, it would be the 18th largest country in the world; almost the same size as Iran . With its myriad of islands, Alaska has nearly 34,000 miles (55,000 km) of tidal shoreline. The Aleutian Islands chain extends west from the southern tip of the Alaska Peninsula . Many active volcanoes are found in the Aleutians and in coastal regions. Unimak Island , for example,
9792-520: The world's largest tides occurs in Turnagain Arm , just south of Anchorage, where tidal differences can be more than 35 feet (10.7 m). Alaska has more than 409,000 natural lakes at least one hectare or bigger. Marshlands and wetland permafrost cover 188,320 square miles (487,700 km ) (mostly in northern, western and southwest flatlands). Glacier ice covers about 28,957 square miles (75,000 km ) of Alaska. The Bering Glacier
9894-428: Was a major cause of the delayed completion of the highway. The roadway was completed on October 19, 1951, connecting Seward to the major city of Anchorage by road for the first time (Seward was previously reached by sea, rail, or air). The entire length of the highway was paved in 1952. During the 1964 Alaska earthquake , about 20 miles (32 km) of the Seward Highway sank below the high water mark of Turnagain Arm ;
9996-512: Was extremely limited or unavailable until statehood took effect in 1959. Starting in the 1890s and stretching in some places to the early 1910s, gold rushes in Alaska and the nearby Yukon Territory brought thousands of miners and settlers to Alaska. From 1879 to 1920, Alaska produced a cumulative total of over $ 460,000,000 ($ 6,691,927,500 inflation-adjusted) of mineral production. Alaska was officially incorporated as an organized territory in 1912. Alaska's capital, which had been in Sitka until 1906,
10098-492: Was formed as a direct response to the disaster. Federal disaster relief funds paid for reconstruction as well as financially supporting the devastated infrastructure of Alaska's government, spending hundreds of millions of dollars that helped keep Alaska financially solvent until the discovery of massive oil deposits at Prudhoe Bay . At the order of the U.S. Defense Department , the Alaska National Guard founded
10200-408: Was headquartered in Sitka. For most of Alaska's first decade under the United States flag, Sitka was the only community inhabited by American settlers. They organized a "provisional city government", which was Alaska's first municipal government, but not in a legal sense. Legislation allowing Alaskan communities to legally incorporate as cities did not come about until 1900, and home rule for cities
10302-779: Was moved north to Juneau . Construction of the Alaska Governor's Mansion began that same year. European immigrants from Norway and Sweden also settled in southeast Alaska, where they entered the fishing and logging industries. During World War II , the Aleutian Islands Campaign focused on Attu , Agattu and Kiska , all of which were occupied by the Empire of Japan . During the Japanese occupation, an American civilian and two United States Navy personnel were killed at Attu and Kiska respectively, and nearly
10404-482: Was the first to actively colonize the area beginning in the 18th century, eventually establishing Russian America , which spanned most of the current state and promoted and maintained a native Alaskan Creole population. The expense and logistical difficulty of maintaining this distant possession prompted its sale to the U.S. in 1867 for US$ 7.2 million (equivalent to $ 157 million in 2023). The area went through several administrative changes before becoming organized as
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