Anchorage Timeline    

ANCHORAGE TIMELINE 
ca 5,000 B.C.
Earliest known human habitation 

ca 1743
Russian traders establish trading posts in Western and Southcentral Alaska 

1778
Captain Cook discovers and names the “River Turnagain” 

1794
Captain George Vancouver explores Southcentral Alaska 

1839
Dena’ina population decimated by smallpox 

1867
United States purchases Alaska Territory from Russia 

1880
Ivan Petroff compiles first census of Alaska 

1888
Gold discovered in Turnagain Arm area. 

1896
James Girdwood stakes placer claim at Crow Creek 

1898
Congress extends Homesteading Act to Alaska 

1902
Alaska Central Railway construction begins at Seward 

1910
First cabins built on the flats of Ship Creek 

1912
Alaska becomes a United States Territory 

1914
Alaska Engineering Commission created 

1915
President Woodrow Wilson authorizes Alaska Railroad Anchorage townsite auction 

Pioneer School established as Anchorage’s first school 

1916
First regulation baseball diamond and grandstands constructed 

Joe Spenard holds first ice carnival on Lake Spenard 

Railroad workers form Alaska Labor Union 

1917
All-Alaska Mid-Winter Carnival first held 

1918
First train between Anchorage and Seward 

1920
Anchorage is incorporated as a city
Leopold David begins first of three terms as Mayor of Anchorage 

1923
President Warren G. Harding drives “Golden Spike” to complete the Alaska Railroad line from Seward to Fairbanks 

1924
Eklutna Industrial School established 

1925
Anchorage Golf Club organized 

1926
First homestead established in South Anchorage by Thomas Hogan 

Peter “Russian Jack” Toloff homesteads east Anchorage area 

1929
Pioneer aviator Russell Merrill disappears while crossing Cook Inlet 

1930
Merrill Field opened 

1934
Construction begins on Providence Hospital by Sisters of Providence 

1935
Robert Atwood becomes editor and publisher of Anchorage Daily Times 

Matanuska Colony experiment begins 

1937
First Fur Rendezvous held by Chamber of Commerce 

1939
Providence Hospital opens 

1940
Construction begins on Fort Richardson and Elmendorf Air Force Base 

1942
Whittier Tunnel completed 

1946
Austin “Cap” Lathrop’s 4th Avenue Theatre opens doors 

1947
Z.J. Loussac elected mayor of Anchorage 

1949
First traffic lights installed on Fourth Avenue 

1950
First “Carrs” grocery store opens in Anchorage 
Marvin "Muktuk" Marston lays out Turnagain-by-the Sea 

1951
Completion of highway between Anchorage and Seward 

1953
Mount Spurr erupts for first time in recorded history 

1954
Anchorage Community College opens 

1956
Anchorage named "All-American City" 

1957
Oil discovered at Swanson River on the Kenai Peninsula 

1959
Alaska becomes 49th state 
Alaska Methodist University dedicated 

1960
Alaska Methodist University begins classes 

1964
Good Friday Earthquake 

Greater Anchorage Area Borough created the State legislature 

1965
Anchorage again named “All- American City” for earthquake restoration efforts 

1968
Kincaid Park created from a former Nike missile site in South Anchorage 

Largest oil field in North America discovered at Prudhoe Bay 

1969
Walter Hickel named to Presidential Cabinet post, a first for any Alaskan 

1971
President Richard Nixon and Emperor Hirohito meet at Elmendorf Air Force Base 

Alaskan Native Claims Settlement Act (ANSCA) passed by Congress 

1973
Joan Kimura designs official seal of Anchorage 

First modern Iditarod Trail race held 

1974
Construction begins on trans-Alaska Pipeline System (TAPS) 

1975
4,000+ acre Bicentennial Park created in Southeast Anchorage 

City of Anchorage and Greater Anchorage Area Borough unified into Municipality of Anchorage 

1977
Completion of TAPS at a cost of over $8 billion dollars 

Alaska Methodist University becomes Alaska Pacific University 

1980
National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA) passed by Congress 

1982
The Oscar Anderson House, built in 1915, is restored and opened to public 

1983
Heritage Land Bank created 

1984
Anchorage named “All-American City” for third time 

1985
State of Alaska purchases Alaska Railroad from federal government 

Anchorage named a U.S. bid city for Olympic games 

1986
Kincaid Outdoor Center opens 

1992
Mount Redoubt erupts in August, covering Anchorage in volcanic ash 

1994
Tommy Moe wins gold medal at Winter Olympics 

1996
Arctic Winter Games held in Chugiak/Eagle River 

October 4th, 1996
Municipality of Anchorage goes ON-LINE!