| |
Seward | Moose
Pass | Girdwood
| Eagle River
| Eklutna |
| Knik | Skwentna
| Tolovana Roadhouse | Rainy
Pass | Takotna |
| Iditarod | Kaltag
| Galena | Unalakleet
| Golovin | Solomon
| Nome |
Seward
History:
Seward is located on Resurrection Bay, named in 1972, by Alexander
Baranof, the Alaska manager of the Russian American Company, while
he was exploring the Kenai Peninsula for possible sites for ne settlements.
It is said that he named the bay Resurrection, because he first entered
it on Easter Sunday. The next year, when he was ordered to build ships
in Russian America, he selected Resurrection Bay as the site for the
shipyard. In 1794 the first ship to be built in Alaska by the Russians,
the Phoenix, was launched. Little more is known about the settlement
after 1794. It was abandoned in the 1840's.
The city of
Seward was founded in 1903 by Alaska Central Railway as the ocean
terminus for its proposed railroad to the interior. It was named
in honor of William H. Seward, the secretary of state who negotiated
the purchase of Alaska from Russia in 1867. The Alaska Central went
bankrupt and its successor the Alaska Northern Railway was purchased
by the federal goverment in 1915. It became part of the Alaska Railroad,
which the government was building from Seward to Fairbanks.
With the completion
of the Alaska Railroad in 1923, Seward became the Gateway City.
All passengers and freight destined for South Central and Interior
Alaska passed through Seward.
Iditarod
Historic Trail
Mile "0" Seward, Alaska |
With the discovery
of gold in the Iditarod country in 1908, Seward became the winter
port for the new gold fields. Thousands of people and tons of gold,
mail and supplies were carried over the Iditarod Trail between Seward
and the Iditarod mining district. Heavy traffic continued over the
trail until the 1920's when mining declined and the airplane began
to replace the dog team. A renewed interest in the trail was born
with the first running of the Iditarod
Sle Dog Race in 1973. In 1978 the Iditarod was made a National
Historic Trail with Seward as Mile "0".
Seward's economy based on
railroading and stevedoring was destroyed by the March 27th, 1964
earthquake. Since then Seward has worked hard to rebuild and diversify
its economy. Today in addition to its thriving tourist industry,
Seward is home to Alaska Vocational-Technical Center, the Spring
Creek Correctional Center, the Sea
Life Center and the Kenai Fjords National Park.
_____Resurrection
Bay was named in 1792 by Russian fur trader and explorer Alexander
Baranof. While sailing from Kodiak to Yakutat, he found unexpected
shelter in this bay for a storm. He named the Bay Resurrection because
it was the Russian Sunday of the Resurrection. The City of Seward
was named for U.S. Secretary of State William Seward, 1861-69, who
negotiated the purchase of Alaska from Russia during the Lincoln
administration. In the 1890s, Capt. Frank Lowell arrived with his
family. In 1903, John and Frank Ballaine and a group of settlers
arrived to begin construction of a railroad. Seward became an incorporated
City in 1912. The Alaska Railroad was constructed between 1915 and
1923, and Seward developed as the ocean terminus and supply center.
By 1960, Seward was the largest community on the Peninsula. Tsunamis
generated after the 1964 earthquake destroyed the railroad terminal
and killed several residents. As an ice-free harbor, Seward has
become an important supply center for Interior Alaska.
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