Anchorage’s Centennial Four 1...Anchorage Centennial: 1915-2015 Anchorage’s Centennial One:...

Anchorage Centennial:

1915-2015

Anchorage’s Centennial

One: Anchorage Before 1915

Two: Anchorage’s Founding

Three: War, Prosperity and Statehood

Four: Earthquake and Boom


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Part Four:

Earthquake and Boom

1—The Good Friday Earthquake

2—A 1966 Perspective

3—Ten Themes in Anchorage’s

Past Five Decades of Growth

4—Anchorage’s Economic Performance

5—Quilts Celebrating Anchorage’s Last

Five Decades


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Ring of Fire

The Good Friday Earthquake—March 27, 1964


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The 1964 Alaska earthquake, known to Alaskans as the Good Friday

Earthquake, began at 5:36 P.M. AST on Friday, March 27. It was one of the

most frightful natural events of modern time. Lasting three minutes,

ground fissures, collapsing buildings, and tsunamis throughout Southcentral

Alaska caused 143 deaths.

It was the second most powerful earthquake ever measured by

seismologists at a magnitude of 9.2 (the largest being the 1960 earthquake

in Chile). By comparison, the San Francisco Earthquake of 1906 would have

measured 7.9, an energy equivalent of less than 2% of the Alaska quake.

Anchorage sustained great destruction or damage to many inadequately

engineered houses, buildings, and infrastructure (paved streets, sidewalks,

water and sewer mains, electrical systems, and other man-made

equipment), particularly in the several landslide zones along Knik Arm.


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Fissures and openings in the ground caused major structural

damage in many communities in the region, where homes, businesses

and considerable infrastructure were damaged or destroyed.

Property damage was estimated at over $300 million, $3.0 billion

in current terms. As far away as Kodiak, two hundred miles

southwest, the land rose by 30 feet.

The land near Girdwood and Portage dropped 8 feet and twenty

miles of the Seward Highway and adjacent rails sank below the high-

water mark of Turnagain Arm. Girdwood was relocated inland and

Portage was abandoned.

It took two years to raise and rebuild the highway, tracks and

bridges to pre-Earthquake standards.

The Good Friday Earthquake—1964


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In Prince William Sound, near the epicenter, Port Valdez suffered

a massive underwater landslide, resulting in the deaths of 30 people

between the collapse of the city harbor and docks, and inside the

ship that was docked there at the time.

Nearby a 27-foot tsunami destroyed the village of Chenega,

killing 23 of the 68 people who lived there. The only survivors were

those able to run to high ground.

Post-quake tsunamis severely affected Whittier, Seward, Kodiak,

and other communities in Alaska. Although Valdez was not totally

destroyed, the town relocated to higher ground four miles west of its

original site. Seward and Whittier were inundated and as far away as

Kodiak boats emptied the harbor and came to rest downtown.


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Post-quake tsunamis severely affected people and property as far

away as British Columbia, Oregon, and California.

Twelve people were killed by the tsunami when it reached Crescent

City, California, 2,000 miles from the epicenter, and four children were

killed on the Oregon coast at Beverly Beach State Park. There was

property damage along the coast as far south as Los Angeles. The

tsunamis were observed as far away as Hawaii and Japan.

Over 10,000 aftershocks followed the earthquake. In the first day

alone, eleven major aftershocks were recorded with a magnitude greater

than 6.0. Nine more occurred over the next three weeks. It was eighteen

months after the quake when the aftershocks subsided.

Property damage was estimated at over $310 million ($2.26 billion in

current U.S. dollars).


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The 1964 Alaskan tsunami generated waves of more than 20 feet at

Crescent City, California, where it caused $7.5 million in damage

and 11 deaths. It also produced waves ranging from 10 to 16 feet

along parts of the California, Oregon, and Washington coasts.


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THE BEATLES IN ANCHORAGE—1966

After the Good Friday Earthquake in 1964, much of Anchorage lay in

ruins. Earthquake recovery dominated life in the late 1960s.

It was during this time, June 27, 1966, that the Beatles came to

Anchorage. The DC-8 jet carrying the Fab Four to Japan set down at

Anchorage International Airport because a typhoon blocked their way.

Chased by probably 500 teens, they soon retreated to room 1050 of

the Anchorage Westward Hotel. Food was delivered -- hamburgers and king

crab. They remained about 12 hours, leaving at 1 am for Japan.

Some years later, Ringo Starr recalled, “Anchorage, Alaska, was like a

cowboy town to us. It was really like a backwater. My only great memory

of Alaska is that at the airport they have a huge, magnificent white bear in

a glass case.” There wasn’t much to do and they were not impressed.


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Anchorage:

All America

City 1965


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POPULATION SHIFT IN ALASKA

Alaska in 1910—64,356 Alaska in 1920—55,036 Alaska in 1930—59,278 Alaska in 1940—72,524 Alaska in 1950—128,643 Alaska in 1960—226,167 Alaska today—742,295

Juneau in 1910—1,644 Juneau in 1920—3,058 Juneau in 1930—4,043 Juneau in 1940—5,729 Juneau in 1950—5,958 Juneau in 1960—6,797 Juneau today—31,275

Fairbanks in 1910—3,541 Fairbanks in 1920—1,155 Fairbanks in 1930—2,101 Fairbanks in 1940—3,455 Fairbanks in 1950—5,771 Fairbanks in 1960—13,311 Fairbanks today—31,535

Anchorage in 1910—none Anchorage in 1920—1,856 Anchorage in 1930—2,277 Anchorage in 1940—3,495 Anchorage in 1950—11,254 Anchorage in 1960—44,397 Anchorage today—301,134


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POPULATION SHIFT IN ALASKA


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TEN ANCHORAGE THEMES How did Anchorage grow and prosper in the last Five Decades?

1—Oil Development/Alaska Permanent Fund

2—Alaska Native Claims Settlement

3—Alaska’s Parklands

4—Project 80’s

5—Exxon Valdez Disaster

6—Expanding Tourism

7—Military and Government

8—Public Education and Health Care

9—Focus on Charity and Giving

10—Diversity of Population


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In 1959 Bill Egan became the state’s first governor and Hugh J.

Wade was elected Secretary of State (now Lt. Governor). It was a rocky

start as Egan soon became ill and required hospitalization in Seattle.

During his first governorship, Egan supervised the transition of

Alaska's territorial bureaucracy into a state government. The new, strong

legislative and executive branches were in contrast to the weak system

during territorial days, when the governor and the legislature worked in

the shadows of federal agencies from Washington D.C.

Egan also encouraged investment into the U.S.'s newest state,

noting its slowly growing oil and tourist industries.

The governor also oversaw selection of the state land entitlement,

104 million acres of land, as well as the surrounding navigable waters,

perhaps 25% of all lands and submerged lands within Alaska’s boundary.

1—OIL DEVELOPMENT


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Oil Development in Cook Inlet;

Land Selections on the North Slope

The new Alaska Department of Natural Resources and its Division of

Lands held its first lease sale in 1960 and oil companies rushed to purchase

exploration leases in Cook Inlet.

Two years later the Middle Ground Shoal oil field was discovered off

Port Nikiski, at the same latitude as the onshore Swanson River field.

Production began from Middle Shoal in 1967. Nearly 1.3 billion barrels of oil

have been pumped, along with 5 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.

During this time the state made land selections on Alaska’s North

Slope. The discovery of the Swanson River Oil Field prompted Richfield Oil

to send geologists to the Arctic starting in 1959. Seismic survey crews

appeared in 1963. Although the region closer to the Brooks Range was

considered more promising, a seismic reconnaissance was made across

what soon became known as the Prudhoe structure in 1964.


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Oil Discoveries at Prudhoe Bay

In 1965, during another state lease sale, Richfield partnered with

Humble Oil and acquired North Slope leases over what was later identified

as the gas cap while British Petroleum was awarded leases over the "oil

ring”.

By 1967 Richfield already drilled a number of dry holes on its North

Slope leases and was planning to leave the Slope. Their final hole started

with freeze-up in 1967. On the day after Christmas, the crew opened a rig to

check the results. Natural gas burst into the air. When ignited from a two-

inch pipe, it flared 50 feet in a 30-mile-per-hour wind. Astonished a second

well was started to see if there was more gas and oil in the area. In March,

1968 it confirmed more oil, even more than the first had produced.

The following year, a new lease sale reaped $1 billion in revenues as oil

companies purchased the fringe areas around the Prudhoe Bay oilfield.

Royalties and taxes from these oil provinces more than realized the purposes

of the state land entitlement.


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Governor Keith Miller with DNR Commissioner Tom Kelly

September 10, 1969—Sydney Laurence Auditorium—Anchorage


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Tom Marshall, who to this day receives little recognition for his

accomplishment, was the State’s land selection officer after

statehood—based in Anchorage. Now nearly 80, Marshall moved to

Anchorage from Wyoming during the lean days of 1958, one year

before Alaska became a state. He homesteaded in the Matanuska-

Susitna valley and soon got a job with the Alaska Department of

Natural Resources.

Today he reports he simply chose the best prospects between

existing federal enclaves on the North Slope within the Lisburne

formation, a stratified section of limestone and sand 9,000 feet

below the surface, but he admits his superiors and Governor Egan

were uncertain if the state should even select the land.

Once selected, the industry acquired the leases without much

fanfare, as they through the better prospects were further south in

the Umiat prospect in the Brooks Range foothills.


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"It cost about $40,000 to file, which doesn't sound like a whole lot of

money today," Marshall said. "But when I told the administrator of finances

what I was going to select, I got a look like I was Oliver Twist asking for

another cup of gruel.”

The state selected the parcel of land in January 1964—two months

before the Earthquake. The payoff came quickly, when oil companies

purchased leases that brought the state about $11 million. The real drama

occurred in 1968, when two oil companies announced they discovered the

largest oilfield in North America at Prudhoe Bay.

The main beneficiaries of the discovery were the oil companies and the

state of Alaska, which has earned more than $49 billion in oil royalties and

taxes since the day Tom Marshall made his choice. Alaskans who have

received dividends from the permanent fund haven't done so poorly either.

Those who have cashed yearly checks since the program began in 1982 have

received nearly $20,000—all thanks to Tom Marshall!!


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Impact of Oil Discoveries

Construction of the Alaska Pipeline began in the winter of 1973 and was

completed by summer 1977. Over 28,000 people worked on the project, which

cost $7.7 billion, well in excess of the industry's initial $900,000 estimate.

The oil discovery and pipeline construction fueled a modern-day boom

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 location.

The impact of modern oil development in Alaska has been huge. Taxation on

oil production on the North Slope has generated over $150 billion for the state

in nearly 40 years - $4 billion a year on average.

About 80% of Alaska's revenue has come from oil taxation. One third of

Alaska's economic base is oil production and oil related activity.


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Oil Price Crash in the 1980’s

The state suffered a considerable economic decline when oil prices

crashed in 1985-86. From a high of $40 in 1981, and a steady rate of about

$27 a barrel in 1985, by 1986 the price fell to less than $15.

The impact on the state's economy was devastating, with a collapse in

every aspect of the economy, and in people's lives across the state. The

value of the state general fund revenues fell from $4.1 billion in 1984 to

$2.9 billion in 1986 and then $2.1 billion in 1988. By 1990 they had dipped to

just $143 million. State government officials acted quickly to cut spending,

but it was not enough to prevent a crisis.

The deep budget cuts necessary in the state budget meant a

widespread loss of jobs, reduced incomes, and loss of business and property

values. Nine out of fifteen banks in the state failed. Federal banking

inspectors moved from one bankruptcy to another, as if they were moving

through the wreckage of a natural disaster.


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Alaska Permanent Fund

In 1976 Alaska voters passed a constitutional amendment to establish

the Permanent Fund (Alaska Constitution, Article IX, Section 15).

In 1982 the U.S Supreme Court ruled the 1980 legislation authorizing

$50 for every year of residency since statehood unconstitutional. In response

the legislature authorized equal dividend payments to all residents. The first

dividend amount was $1,000. The first dividend checks were distributed

June 14, 1982.

In the thirty years that have followed the first distribution, there have

been 18.6 million dividend applications with disbursements approaching $20

Billion.

The average resident who has qualified each year has received nearly

$20,000 in payments over thirty years.


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Serving his third term beginning in 1970, Gov. Bill Egan and Sen.

Ted Stevens finalized Alaska Native claims, which had been held in

abeyance since Statehood.

President Nixon signed the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act

in 1971 and, soon thereafter, the Trans Alaska Pipeline Authorization

Act in 1973.

Most regional and village corporations with significant business

operations have their headquarters in Anchorage.

Today ANCSA regional corporations have the top 5 spots in Alaska

Business Monthly's list of Alaska's Top 49 Alaskan-owned businesses,

and all 12 regional corporations appear on the list, along with many

village corporations.

2—Alaska Native Claims Settlement


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The most recent economic statistics are staggering: Revenues from

regional corporations alone totaled almost $7.0 billion, with corporate

assets over $4.6 billion. Shareholder dividend payments are now nearly

$200 million.

Direct Alaska employment is nearly 14,000, with statewide payroll

nearly $1 billion. Worldwide employment exceeds 35,000.

Many regional corporations (and indeed some village corporations)

have created their own nonprofits supported by the profits of their

corporate undertakings. The objectives of these nonprofits are varied,

but focus generally on cultural and educational activities. These include

scholarships for Native students, sponsorship of cultural and artistic

events, preservation efforts for Native languages and protection of sites

with historic or religious importance.

Native Corporations Today


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The Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act was passed on

November 12, 1980 and signed into law by President Carter. It provided

varying degrees of special protection to over 157,000,000 acres of land,

nearly half the state, including national parks, national wildlife refuges,

national monuments, wild and scenic rivers, recreational areas, national

forests and other designated conservation areas.

Although opposed aggressively by most Alaskans at the time, today

support for the vision of ANILCA has increased, even among former

detractors in Alaska -- as the spectacular parks, monuments, refuges and

other areas set aside by the 1980 legislation have become a significant

boon to Alaska tourism and the State's economy.

Alaska also has a considerable state park system, including the

largest in the Nation. Chugach State Park is the third largest, dominating

the Anchorage skyline.

3—Alaska’s Parklands


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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, expanded performing

arts center, a new civic center, a sports arena, ice arenas, museum

expansion, outdoor ski areas, the Coastal Trail, and a new golf course and

equestrian center in South Anchorage.

Project 80’s was conceived by Mayor George Sullivan as a massive

Anchorage-wide public works project that confirmed the community as

Alaska’s destination for civic and community events, the pre-eminent

northern travel attraction in North America.

4—Project 80’s


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In the late 1980s the price of oil dropped dramatically and a recession

hit Anchorage. But Anchorage made international headlines on Good Friday,

March 24, 1989, when the grounded oil tanker Exxon Valdez spilled nearly 11

million gallons of crude oil into nearby Prince William Sound, forming a slick

that eventually reached into the Gulf of Alaska and beyond.

Anchorage served as the command post for cleanup efforts costing

more than $2.5 billion. Only a small amount of oil remained by the mid-

1990s, and seals, whales, and bald eagles had returned to the region. U.S.

government biologists and scientists for the Exxon Corporation continued to

disagree over the issue of damage to animals, with Exxon contending that

the damage was less than what government scientists claimed. In 1994 an

Anchorage jury ordered Exxon Corp. to pay more than $5 billion to fishermen

and others who could show that they had been financially hurt by the oil

spill.

5—Exxon Valdez Disaster


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Alaska is a popular tourist destination, bringing more people than

ever back to Alaska. Tourism is Alaska’s second largest private sector

employer

Approximately half of all visitors coming to Alaska arrive by cruise

ship. The cruise industry is a global market and Alaska accounts for over 5

percent of cruise itinerary destinations worldwide.

In 2013, 2 million people visited Alaska: 51% came by cruise, 45% by

air, and 4% by highway or ferry.

While Alaska is long known for its recreational fishing and wilderness

destinations, winter tourism has improved markedly, including the world-

renowned Iditarod Sled Dog Race, which starts each March in downtown

Anchorage.

6—Expanding Tourism


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The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race is an annual long-distance sled

dog race run in early March from Anchorage to Nome.

Mushers and a team of 16 dogs, of which at least 6 must be on

the towline at the finish line, cover the distance in 9–15 days.

The Iditarod began in 1973 as an event to test the best sled dog

mushers and teams but evolved into today's highly competitive race.

The current fastest winning time record was set in 2014 by Dallas

Seavey with a time of 8 days, 13 hours, 4 minutes, and 19 seconds.

As of 2012, Dallas Seavey was also the youngest musher to win

the race at the age of 25, while as of 2013, at the age of 53, Mitch

Seavey was the oldest person to ever win the race.

Iditarod

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mushing


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Teams generally race through blizzards causing white out

conditions, sub-zero temperatures and gale-force winds which can

cause the wind chill to reach −100 °F (−73 °C).

The ceremonial start occurs in downtown Anchorage and is

followed by the official restart in Willow, where the trail runs to Rainy

Pass, through the sparsely populated interior, and then along the shore

of the Bering Sea before reaching Nome.

Print and television journalists and crowds of spectators attend

the ceremonial start at the intersection of Fourth Avenue and D Street

in Anchorage and in smaller numbers at the checkpoints along the trail.

Iditarod


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The Iditarod is perhaps the most popular sporting event in Alaska, and

the top mushers and their teams of dogs are local celebrities.

While the yearly field of more than fifty mushers and about a

thousand dogs is still largely Alaskan, competitors from fourteen countries

have completed the event including the Swiss Martin Buser, who became

the first international winner in 1992.

The Iditarod received more attention outside of the state after the

1985 victory of Libby Riddles, a long shot who became the first woman to

win the race. Susan Butcher became the second woman to win the race

and went on to win three more years.

The Iditarod is regarded as a symbolic link to the early history of the

state and is connected to many traditions commemorating the legacy of

dog mushing.

Iditarod


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Joint Base Elmendorf–Richardson (JBER), holds the distinction of

being one of 12 joint bases that were created in BRAC 2005. It consists of

four groups that operate and maintain the joint base for air sovereignty,

combat training, force staging and throughput operations in support of

worldwide contingencies.

Among others, the Alaskan Command is a joint sub-unified command

of the US Pacific Command, responsible for operations in and around

Alaska and the North Pacific.

Additionally, the US Army Alaska (USARAK) is a subordinate element of

US Army of the Pacific, headquartered at in Hawaii.

Currently more than 12,000 service men and women serve on the

joint installation, about 25% of the total in the 1950’s.

7—Military and Government


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Federal spending in Alaska, particularly Anchorage, continues to have

a huge impact, though currently at declining levels:

Defense spending was $3.42 billion, with just over half for

procurement and just under half for wages.

Alaska received $2.7 billion in federal grants, with just over half for

formula grants (like Medicaid) and just under half for project grants.

Direct payments to individuals totaled $2 billion, with two-thirds for

federal retirement programs and one-third for other direct payments

(including Medicare, unemployment compensation and more).

Civilian agency spending was $1.27 billion, with two-thirds for payroll

and one-third for procurement.

Federal Spending in Anchorage


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Expansion and diversification have given Anchorage's economy the

ability to absorb fluctuations in the business cycle or unexpected economic

events. Anchorage now has a steady year-round employment base, with a

summer boost from tourism and construction activities.

Although Juneau is the state capital, Anchorage is the state's

government center.

Federal employment (non-military) is about 10,000 direct jobs.

Anchorage now employs 4,300 state government employees, more

than twice the number in Juneau.

The Municipality employs 5,000 workers; the Anchorage School

District, which serves 48,000 students, now employs 8,500 employees.

State and Local Government Employment


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The Anchorage School District has expanded exponentially since

the founding of the Pioneer School House in 1915. It currently serves

48,000 students with 130 schools and programs, one of the largest

districts in the nation.

Minority students comprise more than 50 percent of the student

population.

Most ASD families — 80 percent — speak English at home. The

remaining 20 percent speak 100 languages. As of October 2014, there

were 5,745 students eligible for English Language Learner services, with

the 5 principal languages being Spanish, Hmong (an ethnic group from

the mountainous regions of China, Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand),

Samoan, Tagalong (Philippines) and Yup’ik.

8—Public Education and Health Care


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Once secondary to the Fairbanks campus, in recent decades UAA

has become the state’s largest post-secondary institution.

Located in the heart of Alaska's largest city, the campus is nestled

in the middle of a greenbelt, surrounded by lakes, ponds and wildlife,

and is connected to a city-wide trail system.

UAA is comprised of six teaching units at the Anchorage campus:

the colleges of Education, Health and Social Welfare, Arts and Sciences,

Business and Public Policy; and the Community and Technical College;

and the School of Engineering.

There are four community campuses: Matanuska-Susitna College,

Kenai Peninsula College, Kodiak College and Prince William Sound

Community College.

University of Alaska Anchorage


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The campus started in 1954 as a community college focused on

education of military personnel temporarily assigned to Anchorage; it

formed an association with Alaska Pacific University in 1960.

It was not until 1970 that the college dedicated its present campus on

Providence Avenue and moved from West High School into five new buildings

later named in honor of campus founders Eugene Short, Beatrice McDonald,

Lucy Cuddy, Gordon Hartlieb and Sally Monserud.

In 1975 UAA was established, receiving its first accreditation from

Northwest Association of Schools and Colleges. The Wendy Williamson

Auditorium opened for its first performance the same year.

Today, between the community campuses and the main Anchorage

campus, over 20,000 undergraduate, graduate, and professional students are

currently enrolled at UAA. UAF now enrolls half that number; APU just 700.

University of Alaska Anchorage


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Anchorage is the center for the delivery of health care in the state,

hosting about 20,000 employees, principally at Alaska’s three largest hospitals:

Providence, Alaska Regional and ANMC.

Providence Alaska Medical Center is Alaska's largest hospital, with more

than 400 beds, 800 nurses and 500 physicians on staff. With over 3,500

employees, Providence Health System is the state’s largest private employer.

ANMC has more than 150 beds and 250 physicians, providing medical

services to around 138,000 Alaska Natives, serving as both the secondary

referral hospital for the Alaska Region of the federal Indian Health Service.

Many other health care facilities and clinics, including a host of medical,

dental, nursing, mental health and social services specialists, find their home

in Anchorage.

Health Care in Anchorage


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The Alaska Native Service opened ANMC, a 400-bed hospital with a tuberculosis wing, in

1953. At the time the statewide death rate for Alaska Natives was 653 per 100,000 cases.


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In October 1962 the new Providence Hospital opened at Goose Lake.

It continues to expand and serve as Alaska’s largest medical facility.


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Anchorage has an extensive and historic commitment to charitable and

non-profit giving that has exploded in recent decades. The United Way of

Anchorage began over 50 years ago, assembling payroll and other donations

from workplace campaigns each fall that frequently exceeds $10 million

annually—in turn sponsoring dozens of organizations in the community that

serve local and statewide needs.

In 1955 the Rasmuson family founded the Rasmuson Foundation, a pre-

eminent grant making entity in the state. Assets in 2013 were $616,000,000,

with total grants paid in that year exceeding $33,500,000. Since 1955, total

charitable payments have exceeded $265,000,000.

Pick.Click.Give, the Alaska Permanent Fund Dividend Charitable

Contributions Program, allows Alaskans to share their Permanent Fund

Dividend with causes they care about—now providing access to more than 500

Alaska nonprofits.

9—Focus on Charity and Giving


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Catholic Social Services is the social service arm of the Archdiocese of

Anchorage serving, engaging and employing people of all faiths.

It operates nine multi-faceted programs including two emergency

shelters, a home for teen boys, a food pantry, supportive housing, an

adoption and pregnancy support program, services for individuals with

disabilities, and a refugee resettlement and immigration program.

Incorporated in 1966 as a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation, today it is

one of the largest social service agencies in Alaska. It has a mission to serve

the poor, strengthen individuals and families and advocate for a just

community.

In recent years, as many as 2,000 volunteers provide 20-30,000 hours

of service to help neighbors in need.

Catholic Social Services


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In early 1979, Leesie "Bean" Ballew signed a five year lease in a small,

empty warehouse downtown, across from the Sheraton hotel. The next

week she opened the doors of the warehouse so anyone could come in and

help out - with furniture, supplies, equipment, food, paint, music, or jokes

- and come they did.

The first helpers were the very street people whose place Bean's Café

was created to be - and people from all over the world were soon coming

in, to visit, eat, rest, help organize, or bring donations.

It wasn't long before Bean's Café outgrew the warehouse, even

transformed as it was into a multipurpose center with restrooms, a kitchen,

an office, and a supply room. It relocated in 1985 to a larger building with

facilities, programs, and services that are unparalleled today.

Bean’s Café


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Food Bank of Alaska believes that no one deserves to be hungry. Since

1979, it has secured donated food for nonprofit agencies to distribute to

hungry Alaskans.

Mary Jane Landstrom, who recently passed away, and Marge Wooster,

founded the Food Bank. They were instrumental in learning about the new

concept of food banks, and established one in Anchorage. With other

organizers, these visionaries were committed to eliminating any waste of

food and creating a hunger-free Alaska.

In its first full year of operation FBA distributed 47,470 pounds of food

to 22 partners. In 2014 the agency distributed 6.5 million pounds to more

than 300 agencies – its biggest year yet and an increase of 34% in just the

10 years since our silver anniversary.

Food Bank of Alaska


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Equine Assisted Therapy Alaska (formerly Rainbow Connection) is a

501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to improving the health and

quality of life for children and adults who are living with physical, emotional

and cognitive disabilities.

Equine-assisted activities and therapies are growing and widely

accepted treatments for a range of physical, mental and emotional

disabilities. Conditions served include cerebral palsy, spina bifida,

neuromuscular disorders, post-traumatic stress, autism, Down Syndrome,

ADHD, functional spinal curvature, learning or language disabilities, multiple

sclerosis, traumatic brain injury and cognitive disorders and FAS.

The Freedom Reins program serves returning war veterans to increase

self-esteem, empathy, and a sense of responsibility through the relationship

with the horse, giving riders self-confidence through interaction with their

mount to encourage a visual perspective of independence.

Equine Assisted Therapy Alaska


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While East High School’s 2,200 students represent a variety of ethnic

backgrounds, UAA sociology professor Dr. Chad Farrell discovered after a

phone call from a parent that East along with Bartlett and West high

schools can take the honor of being the most diverse schools in the U.S.

As of 2010, the Mountain View neighborhood is the most diverse

census tract in the entire U.S. In fact, three of the top 10 most diverse are

in Anchorage, followed mostly by a handful from the borough of Queens in

New York.

The other two top census tracts in Anchorage, Tract 9.01 and Tract

8.01, are roughly northeast neighborhoods -- bounded by Ingra Street on

the west, Boniface Parkway on the east, Debarr Road on the south, and

Glenn Highway on the north.

10—Diversity of Population


1915-2015


1915-2015

A key element is that white people contribute to the diversity of a

neighborhood, as other high-diversity tracts in the U.S. lack a white presence.

Alaska's other natural diversity driver is the relative size of its Alaska

Native population, sending it to the front of the demographic charts.

Anchorage is second only to Honolulu in its biracial/multiracial population

percentages. It is fifth overall for Native American/American Indian population

percentages, and 17th overall for Asian/Pacific Islanders.

Anchorage has five of the seven characteristics associated with great

community diversity. It is a coastal border state. It has many renters. Military

bases bring diversity, as does a youthful population. The only two Anchorage is

missing is large population size and the large numbers to qualify it as an

"immigrant gateway community," although it is an "immigrant outpost," meaning

it has more immigrants than many other communities its size.


1915-2015


1915-2015

The the 10 largest private employers in Anchorage in 2003:

Providence Health System Alaska 3,566

Safeway Stores, Inc.3,135

Wal-Mart/Sam's Club 2,443

Fred Meyer 2,341

Alaska Airlines 1,726

BP Exploration, Inc.1,417

Banner Health System 1,243

NANA Management Services 1,227

Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corporation 1,217

ASRC Energy Services 1,171

Federal Express 1,094

VECO Inc. (oil field services) 1,018

Diversity of Employment


1915-2015

In 2015 Anchorage is Alaska’s largest city, now eclipsing all others by

ten times. Its metropolitan area, including the Mat-Su Borough, is more

than half the state’s population. It is the most dominant city in

population in any of the 50 states except New York City.

It is the northernmost city in the United States with more than

100,000 residents and the largest community in North America north of

the 60th Parallel.

It has a remarkably diverse population, with 100 primary languages

spoken by school children.

It has been named an all-America city by the National Civic League

four times, in 1956, 1965, 1984–85, and 2002, and is considered the most

tax-friendly city in the United States.

Anchorage and Its Centennial


1915-2015

Published by:

Employment Security

Division of the Alaska

Department of Labor and

Workforce Development


1915-2015


1915-2015

Age of Anchorage

Housing Stock


1915-2015

It just 100 years Anchorage has developed into a diverse economy in

transportation, military, municipal, state and federal government,

tourism, corporate headquarters (including regional headquarters for multi

national and native corporations) and resource extraction.

Its airport is the hub for many national and international airlines, and

it is the primary international air freight gateway and seaplane base in the

nation.

The community celebrates is Centennial during 2015, culminating in

June and July celebrations, and includes a host of legacy and grass roots

projects recognizing its deep roots and cultural diversity.

For more information, please review two important web sites:

www.anchoragecentennial.org and www.cookinlethistory.org.

Anchorage and Its Centennial


1915-2015

Anchorage’s Centennial Four 1...Anchorage Centennial: 1915-2015 Anchorage’s Centennial One:...

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