On September 10th, 1918, a lesser-known “Golden Spike” was driven in a ceremony signifying the completion of the railroad between Anchorage and Seward. The completion of this portion of the railroad linked Anchorage to the ice-free port of Seward, allowing year-round movement of people, supplies, and equipment to further construction. The spike was presented to […]
Seward’s founder John Ballaine, 58 “Pioneers,” and 25 Central Railway workers pulled into Resurrection Bay on August 28th, 1903. Upon their arrival aboard the “Santa Ana”, they joined the sole family in the area, Mrs. Lowell and her family, and began expanding their new community just north of Lowell Point in earnest. A year before, […]
By 1914, the war in Europe’s far reach began affecting the goings-on in Alaska. That war affected copper mining operations and several would close down in the winter of 1914. The closures were the result of labor shortages. Many of the miners were European immigrants, and those immigrants returned to Europe to fight in the […]
The territory of Alaska’s taxation laws were passed by the US Senate following passage in the US House on August 21st, 1914. The bill submitted by Delegate Wickersham validated the right of the territory to tax the railways in Alaska. Wickersham delivered the bill to WashingtonDC after Alaska’s first Territorial Legislature enacted the laws. After […]