ANCHORAGE, AK

A mix of the familiar and the unusual, the metropolitan and the rustic, Anchorage is a place where it is not uncommon to see moose walking through the parking lot of a downtown skyscraper, or to find yourself stuck in traffic as dogs fill the road as they begin the Iditarod sled dog race.

Government Hill

The oldest district and the northernmost part of Anchorage, Government Hill was one of many places to feel the destruction of the 1964 earthquake. When 400 feet of its bluff collapsed, it destroyed a school and dropped the railroad yard and shipyard by 30 feet. Only partially rebuilt, its shipyard has six fuel ports, which handle approximately 15 million barrels of petroleum each year. The Alaska Railroad Depot operates daily with freight and passenger service.

Ship Creek

Ship Creek was selected as the original tenting site of the pioneers who arrived in the area to build the railroad in 1914 and 1915. They first filled the area located nearby, the Ship Creek Viewing Platform, then spread north up to Government Hill.

Visitors who come during summer can... more