Alaska's cities
Nenana, Alaska
Town is where rivers meet the highway, barges and railroad
Alaska.com
In the mid-1920s, Nenana, Alaska, was the center of attention.
The Fairbanks and 67 miles north of Denali National Park.
Nenana is famous for the Ice Classic, a statewide
competition to guess the date and time of the Tanana River ice breakup each
spring. (The pot, fed by $2.50 tickets, is worth about $300,000.) The Nenana Valley Fair is in mid-August.
Governments, including the school system, the city and the state
highway maintenance department, provide more than half the year-round jobs.
Nenana also serves as a transportation center, with freight arriving on the
railroad to be delivered on river barges to villages along the Tanana and
Yukon Rivers.
And the city is developing a tourist economy, with the Alaska
Railroad Museum, the Golden Railroad Spike Historic Park and Interpretive
Center, the historical Episcopal Church and Iditarod dog kennels.
About half the residents are Athabaskan. Most
residents subsist partly on salmon, moose, caribou (by permit), bear,
waterfowl and berries.
History
Nenana is in the westernmost portion of Tanana Athabaskan Indian
territory. It was first known as Tortella, an interpretation of the Indian
word "Toghotthele," which means "mountain that parallels the river."
A trading post/roadhouse was constructed by Jim Duke in 1903. St. Mark's
Episcopal mission and school was built upriver in 1905. The Nenana Ice
Classic began in 1917 among surveyors for the Alaska Railroad, which was
under construction.
The Railroad Depot was completed in 1923, when President Harding drove the golden spike at the north end of the bridge over
the Tanana River. According to local records, the population had swelled to
5,000 at that time. The railroad linked Nenana to Fairbanks and Seward.
More on this topic
 Adak, Alaska
Anaktuvuk Pass, Alaska
Anchor Point, Alaska
Anderson, Alaska
Angoon, Alaska
Barrow, Alaska
Bethel, Alaska
Big Lake, Alaska
Cantwell, Alaska
Central, Alaska
Chitina, Alaska
Circle, Alaska
Coldfoot, Alaska
Cooper Landing, Alaska
Copper Center, Alaska
Cordova, Alaska
Craig, Alaska
Delta Junction, Alaska
Dillingham, Alaska
Diomede, Alaska
Eklutna, Alaska
Eagle River, Alaska
Elfin Cove, Alaska
Ester, Alaska
Fort Yukon, Alaska
Fox, Alaska
Gakona, Alaska
Galena, Alaska
Girdwood, Alaska
Glennallen, Alaska
Gulkana, Alaska
Gustavus / Glacier Bay, Alaska
Haines, Alaska
Halibut Cove, Alaska
Healy, Alaska
Hollis, Alaska
Homer, Alaska
Hoonah, Alaska
Hope, Alaska
Houston, Alaska
Hyder, Alaska
Kake, Alaska
Kasilof, Alaska
Kenai, Alaska
Ketchikan, Alaska
King Salmon, Alaska
Knik, Alaska
Kodiak, Alaska
Kotzebue, Alaska
Livengood, Alaska
Manley Hot Springs, Alaska
McGrath, Alaska
McKinley Park, Alaska
Mentasta Lake, Alaska
Metlakatla, Alaska
Moose Pass, Alaska
Nikiski, Alaska
Ninilchik, Alaska
Nome, Alaska
North Pole, Alaska
Northway, Alaska
Palmer, Alaska
Paxson, Alaska
Pelican, Alaska
Petersburg, Alaska
Petersville, Alaska
Prudhoe Bay, Alaska
Seldovia, Alaska
Seward, Alaska
Sitka, Alaska
Skagway, Alaska
Soldotna, Alaska
St. George, Alaska
Sterling, Alaska
Talkeetna, Alaska
Tok, Alaska
Trapper Creek, Alaska
Unalaska/Dutch Harbor, Alaska
Valdez, Alaska
Wasilla, Alaska
Whittier, Alaska
Willow, Alaska
Wrangell, Alaska
Yakutat, Alaska
Page 1
|
