Cook spent ten days exploring the inlet named after him. He anchored his ship, HMS Resolution, at a place he called "Anchor Point" (later named "Anchorage" as another Anchor Point existed to the south near Homer, Alaska), near a creek he dubbed "Ship Creek" nestled between two large arms (waterways). On May 15, 1778, after enduring weeks of hard weather, Cook turned into an inlet between two landmarks he called Cape Douglas and Mount St. Cook was searching for the fabled Northwest Passage, a route that would provide a shorter means of reaching the Pacific from Europe than the difficult Northeast Passage around the north of Asia, or south around South America. Ĭaptain James Cook was among the first European explorers to map the Alaskan coastline, and many of the geographical features (mountains, islands, rivers, waterways, etc.) still bear the names he gave them. They tended to winter near trading junctions along common travel routes, where they traded with other Dena'ina and Ahtna tribes from nearby areas. The Dena'ina had no fixed settlements, migrating throughout the area with the seasonal changes, fishing along coastal streams and rivers in the summer, hunting moose, mountain goats, and Dall sheep in early fall, and picking berries in late fall. Around 500 AD the Chugach Alutiiq were displaced by the arrival of Dena'ina Athabaskans, who entered through the mountain passes. As this population moved on, they were followed by a second wave of Alutiiq occupation beginning roughly 4,000 years ago, followed by a third wave around 2,000 years ago. History įor a chronological guide, see Timeline of Anchorage, Alaska.Īrchaeological evidence discovered at Beluga Point just south of Anchorage proper, along the Turnagain Arm, suggests that habitation of the Cook Inlet began 5,000 years ago by a group of Alutiiq people who arrived by kayak. Kiplinger has named it the United States' most tax-friendly city. Īnchorage has won the All-America City Award four times: in 1956, 1965, 1984–85, and 2002, from the National Civic League. ![]() ![]() For this reason, Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport is a common refueling stop for international cargo flights and home to a major FedEx hub, which the company calls a "critical part" of its global network of services. ĭue to its location, almost equidistant from New York City, Tokyo, and Murmansk, Russia (straight over the North Pole), Anchorage lies within 10 hours by air of nearly 90% of the industrialized world. Because of this, less than 10% of the Municipality (or Muni) is populated, with the highest concentration of people in the 100 square-mile area that makes up the city proper, on a promontory at the headwaters of the inlet, commonly called Anchorage, the City of Anchorage, or the Anchorage Bowl. The municipal city limits span 1,961.1 sq mi (5,079.2 km 2), encompassing the urban core, a joint military base, several outlying communities, and almost all of Chugach State Park. In September 1975, the City of Anchorage merged with the Greater Anchorage Area Borough, creating the Municipality of Anchorage. First settled as a tent city near the mouth of Ship Creek in 1915 when construction on the Alaska Railroad began, Anchorage was incorporated as a city in November 1920. Īnchorage is in Southcentral Alaska, at the terminus of the Cook Inlet, on a peninsula formed by the Knik Arm to the north and the Turnagain Arm to the south. At 1,706 sq mi (4,420 km 2) of land area, the city is the fourth-largest by area in the United States and larger than the smallest state, Rhode Island, which has 1,212 sq mi (3,140 km 2). The Anchorage metropolitan area, which includes Anchorage and the neighboring Matanuska-Susitna Borough, had a population of 398,328 in 2020, accounting for more than half the state's population. With a population of 291,247 at the 2020 census, it contains nearly 40 percent of the state's population, and has more people than all of Northern Canada and Greenland combined. ![]() The Municipality of Anchorage ( Tanaina: Dgheyay Kaq' Dgheyaytnu) is the largest city in the U.S.
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