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Anchorage is the largest city in Alaska, which is the largest state in the United States. Over half of the state’s population lives in and around Anchorage, which is the economic center of Alaska. Anchorage is also a major transportation hub, with the central location for air traffic between Southeast Asia, North America and Europe.
Anchorage is a fairly new city. In 1915, there was only a tent city at what was then Ship Creek, and the site was established as a stop on the railroad construction from south to the north and to Fairbanks. After this, development went quickly, and houses, shops, a hotel and other things were built in the early years.
You can still go back to Anchorage’s beginnings with a visit to the Oscar Anderson House, and a walk down the main street, Fourth Avenue, shows buildings from different eras since then. You can also enjoy city life at Town Square and Alaskan art and history at the Anchorage Museum.
Many tourists come to Alaska and start great nature experiences from Anchorage. To the north lies Denali National Park with North America’s highest mountain, and exciting Fairbanks is also a popular destination that can be reached aboard the Alaska Railroad train.
Anchorage formally became a city in 1920, so it is a very young metropolis to visit today. Still, you can see the city’s old town hall, Old Anchorage City Hall, which was designed by E. Ellworth Sedille and built in 1936. The construction was the first in Anchorage to use reinforced concrete.
The City Hall building served as the seat of the city’s political government until 1979, when the administration of the city and area was moved to the Hill Building on West 6th Avenue. Today, the old town hall is surrounded by newer buildings and is now used by Alaska’s official tourist information office.
This is a house preserved from Anchorage’s early history. It was built by Oscar Anderson in 1915, and he is believed to be the 18th person to come to the Ship Creek tent city that eventually developed into the city of Anchorage.
The house was the first in Anchorage to be built with a wood frame as the supporting structure, and Oscar Anderson lived here until 1974. Two years later, Anderson’s widow donated the house to the city of Anchorage. In the years 1978-1982, it was restored to its original condition from 1915, and it was subsequently opened as a museum. Here you can today get a good impression of life in Alaska at the time.
This is an interesting museum where you can experience many facets of Alaska’s art, culture, nature and history. The museum opened in 1968 with a collection of paintings and some ethnographic effects, and since then the collections have expanded considerably.
In the permanent exhibition at the Anchorage Museum, you can, among other things, experience a variety of artworks and artists from and by Alaska. Here are landscape paintings, a gallery of works by Sydney Laurence and much more. There is also a large exhibition about Alaska’s rich natural and cultural history, where the local fauna, different cultures, the Russian colonization, the gold rush and much more are depicted.
If you want to see salmon in the rivers around Anchorage, the Ship Creek stream in the heart of the big city is a really good and easily accessible place. Just north of the center you can follow the Ship Creek Trail and take a walk over the site’s footbridge, from which there is a nice view.
Ship Creek is one of those places where salmon in season jump up the rivers, and the season is relatively long. Typically, chinook salmon will be seen heading towards the spawning grounds in June, while coho salmon follow in July and August. Under the bridge, the salmon stand in the water before taking the next leaps inland, and it is an exciting sight. If necessary, bring sunglasses to be able to best spot the salmon in the water, and be aware that the most intense salmon hours are before and after high tide.
This is the railway station in Anchorage, which is also the hub for rail traffic in Alaska. It is here at the station that you can switch between the railways to Seward in the south, Whittier in the east and Fairbanks in the north. It is thus also from the Anchorage Depot that many tourists start their journey through the beautiful landscape past Denali on the route to Fairbanks.
The railway station was built in 1942-1943 in the so-called modern architecture, which was particularly popular from the mid-1920s to the 1940s. Alaska’s railroad history began in southern Alaska in the city of Skagway in 1898. In the upper part of the state, the Alaska Central Railroad established a line from Seward northward in 1903. In 1915, the railroad’s headquarters moved to what became Anchorage.
In 1915, the tent city of Ship Creek began to develop into what became Anchorage. The following year, the Anchorage Hotel was built, and it became the city’s leading and fine hotel. The current building was designed by E. Ellworth Sedille and erected in 1936, and it is the one that makes up the hotel today. The original hotel building was demolished in the 1960s.
The Anchorage Hotel was the city’s first wooden building, and it was the city’s only hotel. Here there were, among other things, linen and china, and it was here that fine guests in the city spent the night. Among the most famous guests of all time were US Presidents Warren Harding and Herbert Hoover, and Walt Disney has also stayed here.
This theater was built 1941-1947 as a cinema with 960 seats. The architectural style is described as modern and art deco, which were characteristic of the time when construction began in 1941. However, construction was delayed due to World War II, and completion was the last of this style.
The cinema was designed by A.A. Porreca and Benjamin Marcus Priteca, who was one of the leading American cinema designers of the time. It happened at the initiative of local Alaskan businessman Austin Eugene Cap Lathrop, which is why the Fourth Avenue Theater is also known as the Lathrop Building. Today, the cinema is one of the most distinctive buildings on 4th Avenue with the tall neon sign on the facade.
As early as 1915, the Catholic Church sent the priest John Vander Pol to Alaska and the tent city of Ship Creek to assess whether a new parish should be established. Two pieces of land were purchased for $175 and Vander Pol designed a small church that was ready for occupancy in December 1915. It was Anchorage’s first church.
The congregation quickly grew large, and the church from 1915 became too small. Plans were therefore quickly made for a larger church, but funding ran out, and construction did not begin until 1946. The first service in the new church was held on 14 December 1947, although construction was not completed until the following year.
Holy Family was given the status of a cathedral, and Pope John Paul II held mass here when he visited Anchorage in 1981. In 2014, Our Lady of Guadalupe Church was elevated to a co-cathedral, making it the most important Catholic church in Anchorage. On that occasion, Holy Family’s status was changed to former cathedral.
In the center of Anchorage is this square, which is partially laid out as a city park. There are some nice facilities and planting here, and it is one of the best recreational spots in the heart of the city. There are also several places where you can sit down and enjoy city life.
On the west side of the square is the large building that housed the Alaska Center for the Performing Arts. The center opened in 1988 and consists of three theaters and concert halls; Evangeline Atwood Concert Hall, Discovery Theater and Sydney Laurence Theatre.
Resolution Park is a small park located on Cook Inlet in the western part of downtown Anchorage. The park is known for its bronze statue of Captain Cook, who overlooks the fjord from the park, which Cook explored in 1778 on his third great expedition.
Cook sailed with HMS Resolution, which gave its name to the park. Cook and HMS Resolution spent two weeks in Cook Inlet without finding the Northwest Passage by which they came to the area. Captain Cook himself was not ashore at what is now Alaska, but it was William Bligh who later became known for the mutiny on HMS Bounty.
In Resolution Park, you can see the bronze statue from 1976, and there is also an excellent view of the water and of Anchorage’s sunsets from here. On the opposite bank lies the 1,340 meter high mountain Mount Susitna, also called The Sleepy Lady, and in clear weather you can see North America’s highest mountain, Denali.
South of the center of Anchorage is the Delaney Park Strip, which is a green area that stretches over 11 so-called blocks. Today it is a recreational area, and it was already included in Anchorage’s original city plan from 1917.
The elongated area was originally established as a fire belt, and it had various uses. It was known as the Park Strip, and from 1923 golf was also played here. The Park Strip was also used as Anchorage’s first airport, with the park used as a runway.
The first aircraft was Jimmy Rodebaugh’s Standard J-1, and it was volunteers from Anchorage residents who built the runway. Pilot Noel Wien took off from here for the first time on June 4, 1924. Initially, Wien offered round-trip flights of 15 minutes, and on July 6, 1924, Wien flew the first trip between the Park Strip and Fairbanks. In 1932, the airfield Merrill Field opened, and that stopped flights on the Park Strip.
In the 1950s, the Delaney Park Strip was developed with many recreational areas and sports facilities. In 2001, the Alaska Veterans Memorial was established as a monument dedicated to veterans of America’s wars. You can e.g. also see a monument to Martin Luther King and the Centennial Rose Garden in the elongated park.
Next to Anchorage International Airport, you can see the Lake Hood Seaplane Base, the world’s busiest airfield for seaplanes. In the area, you cannot avoid seeing the many planes that land and take off daily on and from the lake.
Lake Hood Seaplane Base started out as two separate lakes. To the west lay Lake Hood and to the east Lake Spenard. In the 1970s, a canal was dug between the two lakes to establish a runway and taxiways. Today, planes are parked along the banks of both lakes, and there is plenty of opportunity to get a closer look at the seaplanes from several places.
On the south side of Lake Hood is the Alaska Aviation Heritage Museum, where you can see a number of aircraft on display. You can also see the seaplanes on Lake Hood from here and thereby experience the special atmosphere around the lake. You can also enjoy the view from Aviation Avenue, where there is a parking lot at the Alaska Department of Transportation building.
The park Earthquake Park is a place where you can clearly see the impact of the great earthquake that shook Alaska and Anchorage in 1964. The earthquake measured 9.2 on the Richter scale and caused great damage in Anchorage. One of the places hit was the residential area where Earthquake Park is today.
The area was among Anchorage’s most expensive neighborhoods, and it was in plain flat terrain. With the earthquake, some of the area slipped into the sea, while the underground shook, and the hilly terrain today is a result of the earthquake. In the park there is information about the earthquake and about its consequences for this part of Anchorage.
The famous Iditarod sled dog race has its formal start every year on Anchorage’s main street, and here you can see a statue of Balto the dog, who became famous in connection with the serum race to Nome in 1925, where in a few days, in harsh conditions, the antidote had to be transported the city of Nome to stop a diphtheria epidemic.
Balto was a Siberian husky sled dog who, with handler Gunnar Kaasen, led his dog team the last distance to Nome in 1925. Originally, Kaasen, Balto and the other dogs were to bring the antidote from Bluff to Point Safety, but the team continued through the night for the last 40 km to Nome, so Balto ran a total of 87 km.
In this place, you can experience the culture and traditions of Alaska’s indigenous population and thereby gain an interesting insight into the area’s cultural history. You can see dances and crafts and other living communication of traditions and ways of life.
In the museum area, you can also see examples of houses that the population lived in. This applies, for example, to the so-called sugpiaq, which was built as protection against the harsh climate in Alaska. You can also see a traditional longhouse from Alaska, where several families usually lived, and other things.
This place has been inhabited by Alaska Natives since the mid-17th century, making it the oldest settlement in the area that is still active. Russian missionaries came here in the early 1800s, and of course they also left their mark.
In Eklutna Historical Park you can, among other things, see Saint Nicholas Church/St. Nicholas Church, which is the oldest building in and around Anchorage. You can also see the brightly colored spirit houses built on top of the graves in the site’s burial ground. Here you can also see a cross from the Orthodox church.
A visit to the Eklutna Historical Park will teach you about the culture, history and traditions of the Danaina-Athabascans. This in interesting combination with the newer Russian Orthodox traditions.
Kincaid Park is a large recreation area that spreads out on the western tip of Anchorage and out into the Cook Inlet. The park is one of the city’s largest, and you can enjoy over 50 kilometers of paths and over 30 kilometers of cycle paths in the large green area.
There are several ways to get to Kincaid Park. The park is at the southern end of The Coastal Trail, so many people cycle here. You can drive to the park along Raspberry Road, from where there are good opportunities to meet some of Anchorage’s wildlife. You can often see moose from the road, and you can also come across the American black bear.
From the park you can also enjoy the view of Cook Inlet, and in clear weather you can see Mount Denali, which reaches a height of 6,194 meters, and the island of Fire Island in Cook Inlet. Aviation enthusiasts can also keep an eye on the planes that land and take off at the Anchorage International Airport, which is located immediately next to Kincaid Park.
Quite close to Anchorage is Potter March, a beautiful area with plenty of opportunities for birders to see the nature and bird life of this part of Alaska. And it’s easy to get out into nature and close to the birds, because boardwalks have been built through the marshland to bird habitats.
One can see different birds depending on the season. This concerns, among other things, about geese, mallards, table ducks and odin’s roosters. You can also enjoy the landscape and its wetlands and look for other animals. Here, for example, there are muskrats, and moose also visit Potter Marsh. In the water you can also see different species of salmon in the period from June to August.
Chugach State Park is a natural area located close to Anchorage and is one of the largest state parks in the United States. The park is large with rich variety in the landscape, which includes mountains, valleys, lakes, rivers, coasts, glaciers, etc., so there is plenty of opportunity to experience Alaska’s magnificent nature at a relatively short distance from the big city.
There are several popular spots in Chugach State Park. One of them is the easily accessible Anchorage Overlook, where there is a fine panoramic view of the Anchorage area. The area around Eklutna Lake is also well visited, and at the Eagle River Nature Center you can get an exciting insight into the park’s wildlife and geology.
Alaska is one of the areas where the gold rush has historically attracted people to mines and opportunities to make large gold finds. In 1896 the Crow Creek Mine opened and at the mine’s peak it was one of the top gold producers in the state.
Crow Creek Mine was a so-called hydraulic mine, where water cannons were used to virtually wash soil and rocks apart. In time, water restrictions stopped the country’s hydraulic mining, and so did Crow Creek, where the last active mine owner disposed of the area.
Instead, Crow Creek Mine was developed into a visitor attraction, preserving the historic mine buildings and tools used by the miners. You can also see the beautiful landscape and where the first settlers found their gold. A limited amount of gold is still mined in Crow Creek, and you can also try your hand at panning for gold.
Portage Lake is a glacial lake in the area southeast of Anchorage. The area was previously completely covered by the Portage Glacier, but due to its rapid retreat, the lake appeared in 1914, and since then it has grown considerably into the large lake that, among other things, can sail on today.
There is a parking lot at Portage Lake where you can easily enjoy the view. From the western lakeshore, you can also take boat trips to the southern end of Portage Lake and the Portage Glacier itself. During the sailing trip, you get information about the area’s geology and wildlife.
At the end of the bay Passage Canal lies the small harbor town of Whittier. The town is geographically quite isolated on the east side of the area’s mountains, but a combined road and rail tunnel leads to and from Anchorage. There are 200-300 residents in Whittier, and they pretty much all live in the same building; Begich Towers, completed in 1957.
The city grew during World War II, when the US military built the port of Whittier and the railway to the port, which thereby became the gateway for US soldiers to Alaska. The military used Whittier until 1960, and in 2000 the Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel was opened to public automobile traffic, making the town much more accessible to locals and tourists alike.
Today, Whittier is an important stop on the so-called Alaska Marine Highway, which connects coastal towns and areas with each other with ferries as an alternative to roads. There is a ferry connection between Whittier and the town of Valdez to the east, and the boat trip is in itself an experience through Alaska’s magnificent nature.
320 W 5th Avenue
simon.com
800 E Dimond Boulevard
dimondcenter.com
4th Avenue, 5th Avenue
Alaska Zoo
4731 O’Malley Road
alaskazoo.org
Anchorage Museum
625 C Street
anchoragemuseum.org
Alaska Aviation Museum
4721 Aircraft Drive
alaskaairmuseum.org
Anchorage Trolley
546 W. 4th Avenue
anchoragetrolley.com
Alyeska Aerial Tram
Tram Cir, Girdwood
alyeskaresort.com
Crow Creek Mine
601 Crow Creek Mine Road, Girdwood
crowcreekgoldmine.com
Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center
Mile 79, Seward Highway
alaskawildlife.org
Portage Glacier
1500 Byron Glacier Road
portageglaciercruises.com
Alaska SeaLife Center
301 Railway Avenue, Seward
alaskasealife.org
Alaska Railroad
Anchorage Depot
alaskarailroad.com
Anchorage
Overview of Anchorage
Anchorage is the largest city in Alaska, which is the largest state in the United States. Over half of the state’s population lives in and around Anchorage, which is the economic center of Alaska. Anchorage is also a major transportation hub, with the central location for air traffic between Southeast Asia, North America and Europe.
Anchorage is a fairly new city. In 1915, there was only a tent city at what was then Ship Creek, and the site was established as a stop on the railroad construction from south to the north and to Fairbanks. After this, development went quickly, and houses, shops, a hotel and other things were built in the early years.
About the Whitehorse travel guide
Contents: Tours in the city + tours in the surrounding area
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Author: Stig Albeck
Publisher: Vamados.com
Language: English
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This is the railway station in Anchorage, which is also the hub for rail traffic in Alaska. It is here at the station that you can switch between the railways to Seward in the south, Whittier in the east and Fairbanks in the north. It is thus also from the Anchorage Depot that many tourists start their journey through the beautiful landscape past Denali on the route to Fairbanks.
The railway station was built in 1942-1943 in the so-called modern architecture, which was particularly popular from the mid-1920s to the 1940s. Alaska’s railroad history began in southern Alaska in the city of Skagway in 1898. In the upper part of the state, the Alaska Central Railroad established a line from Seward northward in 1903. In 1915, the railroad’s headquarters moved to what became Anchorage.
In 1915, the tent city of Ship Creek began to develop into what became Anchorage. The following year, the Anchorage Hotel was built, and it became the city’s leading and fine hotel. The current building was designed by E. Ellworth Sedille and erected in 1936, and it is the one that makes up the hotel today. The original hotel building was demolished in the 1960s.
The Anchorage Hotel was the city’s first wooden building, and it was the city’s only hotel. Here there were, among other things, linen and china, and it was here that fine guests in the city spent the night. Among the most famous guests of all time were US Presidents Warren Harding and Herbert Hoover, and Walt Disney has also stayed here.
This theater was built 1941-1947 as a cinema with 960 seats. The architectural style is described as modern and art deco, which were characteristic of the time when construction began in 1941. However, construction was delayed due to World War II, and completion was the last of this style.
The cinema was designed by A.A. Porreca and Benjamin Marcus Priteca, who was one of the leading American cinema designers of the time. It happened at the initiative of local Alaskan businessman Austin Eugene Cap Lathrop, which is why the Fourth Avenue Theater is also known as the Lathrop Building. Today, the cinema is one of the most distinctive buildings on 4th Avenue with the tall neon sign on the facade.
As early as 1915, the Catholic Church sent the priest John Vander Pol to Alaska and the tent city of Ship Creek to assess whether a new parish should be established. Two pieces of land were purchased for $175 and Vander Pol designed a small church that was ready for occupancy in December 1915. It was Anchorage’s first church.
The congregation quickly grew large, and the church from 1915 became too small. Plans were therefore quickly made for a larger church, but funding ran out, and construction did not begin until 1946. The first service in the new church was held on 14 December 1947, although construction was not completed until the following year.
Holy Family was given the status of a cathedral, and Pope John Paul II held mass here when he visited Anchorage in 1981. In 2014, Our Lady of Guadalupe Church was elevated to a co-cathedral, making it the most important Catholic church in Anchorage. On that occasion, Holy Family’s status was changed to former cathedral.
In the center of Anchorage is this square, which is partially laid out as a city park. There are some nice facilities and planting here, and it is one of the best recreational spots in the heart of the city. There are also several places where you can sit down and enjoy city life.
On the west side of the square is the large building that housed the Alaska Center for the Performing Arts. The center opened in 1988 and consists of three theaters and concert halls; Evangeline Atwood Concert Hall, Discovery Theater and Sydney Laurence Theatre.
Resolution Park is a small park located on Cook Inlet in the western part of downtown Anchorage. The park is known for its bronze statue of Captain Cook, who overlooks the fjord from the park, which Cook explored in 1778 on his third great expedition.
Cook sailed with HMS Resolution, which gave its name to the park. Cook and HMS Resolution spent two weeks in Cook Inlet without finding the Northwest Passage by which they came to the area. Captain Cook himself was not ashore at what is now Alaska, but it was William Bligh who later became known for the mutiny on HMS Bounty.
In Resolution Park, you can see the bronze statue from 1976, and there is also an excellent view of the water and of Anchorage’s sunsets from here. On the opposite bank lies the 1,340 meter high mountain Mount Susitna, also called The Sleepy Lady, and in clear weather you can see North America’s highest mountain, Denali.
South of the center of Anchorage is the Delaney Park Strip, which is a green area that stretches over 11 so-called blocks. Today it is a recreational area, and it was already included in Anchorage’s original city plan from 1917.
The elongated area was originally established as a fire belt, and it had various uses. It was known as the Park Strip, and from 1923 golf was also played here. The Park Strip was also used as Anchorage’s first airport, with the park used as a runway.
The first aircraft was Jimmy Rodebaugh’s Standard J-1, and it was volunteers from Anchorage residents who built the runway. Pilot Noel Wien took off from here for the first time on June 4, 1924. Initially, Wien offered round-trip flights of 15 minutes, and on July 6, 1924, Wien flew the first trip between the Park Strip and Fairbanks. In 1932, the airfield Merrill Field opened, and that stopped flights on the Park Strip.
In the 1950s, the Delaney Park Strip was developed with many recreational areas and sports facilities. In 2001, the Alaska Veterans Memorial was established as a monument dedicated to veterans of America’s wars. You can e.g. also see a monument to Martin Luther King and the Centennial Rose Garden in the elongated park.
Next to Anchorage International Airport, you can see the Lake Hood Seaplane Base, the world’s busiest airfield for seaplanes. In the area, you cannot avoid seeing the many planes that land and take off daily on and from the lake.
Lake Hood Seaplane Base started out as two separate lakes. To the west lay Lake Hood and to the east Lake Spenard. In the 1970s, a canal was dug between the two lakes to establish a runway and taxiways. Today, planes are parked along the banks of both lakes, and there is plenty of opportunity to get a closer look at the seaplanes from several places.
On the south side of Lake Hood is the Alaska Aviation Heritage Museum, where you can see a number of aircraft on display. You can also see the seaplanes on Lake Hood from here and thereby experience the special atmosphere around the lake. You can also enjoy the view from Aviation Avenue, where there is a parking lot at the Alaska Department of Transportation building.
The park Earthquake Park is a place where you can clearly see the impact of the great earthquake that shook Alaska and Anchorage in 1964. The earthquake measured 9.2 on the Richter scale and caused great damage in Anchorage. One of the places hit was the residential area where Earthquake Park is today.
The area was among Anchorage’s most expensive neighborhoods, and it was in plain flat terrain. With the earthquake, some of the area slipped into the sea, while the underground shook, and the hilly terrain today is a result of the earthquake. In the park there is information about the earthquake and about its consequences for this part of Anchorage.
The famous Iditarod sled dog race has its formal start every year on Anchorage’s main street, and here you can see a statue of Balto the dog, who became famous in connection with the serum race to Nome in 1925, where in a few days, in harsh conditions, the antidote had to be transported the city of Nome to stop a diphtheria epidemic.
Balto was a Siberian husky sled dog who, with handler Gunnar Kaasen, led his dog team the last distance to Nome in 1925. Originally, Kaasen, Balto and the other dogs were to bring the antidote from Bluff to Point Safety, but the team continued through the night for the last 40 km to Nome, so Balto ran a total of 87 km.
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