Seward, Alaska

OVERVIEW

Seward (Alutiiq: Qutalleq) is a city in Kenai Peninsula Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. According to 2014 Census Bureau estimates, the population of the city is 2,528. It was named after William H. Seward, United States Secretary of State under Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson. In 1867, he fought for the U.S. purchase of Alaska which he finally negotiated to acquire from Russia. Mile 0 of the historic Iditarod Trail is at Seward. In the early 1900s the trail was blazed in order to transport people and goods to and from the port of Seward to interior Alaska.

ATTRACTIONS

  • Kenai Fjords National Park with its easily accessible Exit Glacier
  • Alaska SeaLife Center
  • Seward Silver Salmon Derby
  • Seward Polar Bear Jump-Off
  • Seward Spring Break Up Festival
  • Seward Music and Arts Festival, every year in September
  • Balto Film Fest, last weekend of July
  • The ruins of the Jesse Lee Home for Children

OUR HISTORY

In 1793 Alexander Baranov of the Shelikhov-Golikov company (precursor of the Russian-American Company) established a fur trade post on Resurrection Bay where Seward is today, and had a three-masted vessel, the Phoenix, built at the post by James Shields, an English shipwright in Russian service.

The 1939 Slattery Report on Alaskan development identified the region as one of the areas where new settlements would be established through Jewish immigration.[citation needed] This plan was never implemented.

Seward was an important port for the military buildup in Alaska during World War 2. Fort Raymond was established in Seward along the Resurrection River to protect the community. An Army airfield built in Seward during the war later became Walseth Air Force Base. Both of the military facilities were closed shortly after the end of the war.

A large portion of Seward was damaged by shaking and a local tsunami during the 1964 Alaska earthquake.