By Alaska Native News on Comments Off on This Day in Alaska History-March 4th
On March 4th, in the United States Congress, the Alaska Railway bill was signed by all conferees and turned over to both houses of congress.
While the act stated ports on the southern coast were eligible for railway terminus, only two looked to be adequate, Cordova and Seward. But, conferees also submitted a bill that day prohibiting the railway from connecting to the Copper River and Northwestern Railway, who had Cordova as their terminus. This effectively shut Cordova out of the running and Seward was chosen instead.
This act compelled the Alaska Railway to be fully owned and operated by the government.
While initially, only 1 Million dollars was immediately available to begin, by the time of passage, that number would change to $35,000,000.
On March 4th, in the United States Congress, the Alaska Railway bill was signed by all conferees and turned over to both houses of congress.
