It was 111 years ago today that Anchorage began as the largest Alaskan city it is at present.

It was April 9th, 1915 that President Woodrow Wilson made his final decision as to the route of the Alaska Railroad from Seward to Fairbanks. The route led to the move of the headquarters from Seward to the tent city at Ship Creek in Anchorage, causing a boom in the area’s population.

2,ooo individuals from the Knik area scrambled to the Ship Creek area at first word of the railroad construction and this lawless, muddy area quickly became the foundation of the city of Anchorage.

The tent city would dissolve a mere three months later when 600 fixed lots were auctioned off on the bluffs above the creek and the townsite of Anchorage was formed.

  Alaska, Anchorage, railroad, tent city