Kenai Peninsula Historic Park or Site

Mary Sewell was the wife of a sea captain and merchant. She traveled with her husband, Frank Lowell, to commercial enterprises along the coast of the Kenai Peninsula. After settling in the area, Mary's husband left her and their nine children to fend for themselves. Mary succeeded at making a life for her family here at the head of Resurrection Bay.

When visitors think of the Iditarod Trail, they often think of Anchorage where the race’s ceremonial start takes place. But the trail actually begins in Seward, right here. This spot is also where the town’s first settlers landed back in August 1903.

As the Seward Highway approaches Girdwood, travelers can see the remains of trees whose roots were swamped with salt water and killed during the 1964 Earthquake. Portage was devastated when much of the ground along Turnagain Arm sank five to nine feet. At high tide, the town that once lay at sea level was now under water. The ruins of buildings in the water are testament to that  More...

Built between 1894-96, the Holy Assumption Orthodox Church is the most enduring example of Russian culture in south central Alaska.  For the Kenaitze Indians, who once comprised a significant portion of the population, this church constituted a major link to western culture.

A simple, wood-frame structure with clapboard siding, Holy Assumption Church features a square  More...

This secluded cemetery is one of the few relics left of Sunrise, the booming community that was the jumping off point for thousands of prospectors on their way into the Kenai Mountains during the Turnagain Arm Gold Rush in 1896. Located off a narrow unmarked dirt road, the cemetery overlooks the river and has been restored to its original gold rush condition. The cemetery is adjacent  More...

Andy Simons didn't set out to be a hunting guide, but the job found him and he never looked back. Known for his hunting ethics and shooting skill, Simons became a legend and a sought-after expert on game in Alaska.

Trails were established by prospectors traveling through the Turnagain Pass area. The Ingram Creek trail followed the creek from Turnagain Arm up to Turnagain Pass. After the pass, the trail followed Granite Creek to Sixmile Creek, which then led prospectors to Sunrise and Hope. The Granite Creek/Ingram Creek trails were both connected to the original Iditarod Trail, a series of  More...

For more than a century, the Hope Social Hall has been a place to gather for this community. Foot-stomping fiddle music and Saturday night dances helped pass the long winters in Hope.

This road leads to Holy Transfiguration of Our Lord Russian Orthodox Church. Here you will find a magnificent view of Cook Inlet, volcanoes, the beach and Ninilchik Village. This is a wonderful photo opportunity when the flowers are in bloom.

This creek near Cooper Landing was one of Alaska's earliest gold finds. Peter Doroshin, a mining engineer for the Russian American Company, discovered gold in the area in 1850. Joseph Cooper later discovered gold in 1884, but he did not file a claim. Charles Sickels filed the first claim on Cooper Creek in 1895. Cooper returned in 1896 to stake claims on his namesake creek. The  More...

When the original town site of Seward was established in 1903, Lowell Creek ran down what is now Jefferson Street. (At 100 feet, Jefferson Street is the widest right-of-way in Seward.) Lowell Creek originates in the ice fields of the rugged Kenai Mountains, producing from one to three severe floods per year. Until the Diversion Tunnel was constructed in 1939, large quantities of  More...

Seward, Alaska, is a marine town that has depended on the sea for survival since 1792. Whaling, commercial fishing, sightseeing and military use all sustained the community. This dependence on the ocean has been cause for tragedy over time.As a tribute to mariners that have been lost to the sea, the Kenai Fjords Yacht Club, along with supporters including the Kenai  More...

Palmer Creek and the road that follows it were named after George Palmer, who in 1894 first discovered gold on its banks. The creek was the site of early placer mining and later lode mining. Evidence of the historic Lucky Strike and Hirshey mines, as well as the Swetmann camp, can be found along trails that lead to Palmer Lakes. Several hiking trails are accessible from the Palmer  More...

An engineering marvel for its time, the Loop was constructed to overcome the steep grade between Grandview at mile 44 and the tunnel at mile 51. The four-story loop circled back on itself on high trestles to avoid the side hill tracks and tunnels required of a more traditional route. Costly to maintain, the Loop was bypassed with a new route in 1951. By that time, more powerful  More...

The oldest surviving hotel in Seward, the Van Gilder retains its original appearance of quality and integrity of design. This landmark structure has been a vital part of the Gateway City's life for more than 85 years. Many persons associated with President Harding's tour of territorial Alaska lodged at the Van Gilder. In April 1924, news was cabled to the world from Seward  More...

This picturesque historic building captures a glimpse of a bygone era. Come inside to view a collection of miner's tools, household objects, and other memorabilia from gold rush days to the present.

The oldest functional building in Cooper Landing, the historic post office, is arguably one of the most picturesque rustic structures in the Corridor. The front of the  More...

The Kenaitze Indian Tribe’s Dena’ina ancestors, recognizing the abundance of the place called Yaghanen, "the good land," settled along the banks of its rivers and Tikahtnu (Cook Inlet). In the past several years, one location the Kenaitze Tribe has focused on is Sqilantnu, meaning "the grocery store," located in the area now called Cooper Landing. Today, Kenaitze Indian Tribe partners with the Chugach National Forest to preserve, protect and provide interpretation for this location at the K’Beq’ "footprints" interpretive site.

St. Peter's Episcopal Church is the oldest surviving Protestant church building on the Kenai Peninsula. It was also the location of the first public school classroom in the town of Seward, and it housed a library reading room beginning in 1929.

Soon after the town of Seward was established in the summer of 1903, a priest headquartered in Valdez began making periodic  More...

The city of Sunrise is just a memory along the banks of Six Mile Creek. But at one time Sunrise was the largest city in Alaska and home to gold prospectors, gamblers, prostitutes and thieves.

Named after legendary forester, William Langille, this mountain shows the incredible forces of ice that shaped Kenai Peninsula. At one time, the glacial ice here was 2000 feet thick.

The Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel is nearly three miles long and is the longest combined rail and highway tunnel in North America.

The tunnel, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, was part of the original Loop that wound its way through the steep terrain of the Kenai Mountains. Designed by Frank Bartlett, an engineer for the Alaska Northern Railway, construction on the tunnel began January 16, 1906. Most of the work was undertaken during the winter months. Since snow slides blocked the south side  More...

Charles E. Brown, a young banker from Montreal, Canada, met T.W. Hawkins, a young merchant from Roanoke, Virginia, during the Nome, Alaska, gold rush of 1898. Brown and Hawkins became fast friends who played important roles in establishing the banking and mercantile businesses that would serve central Alaska.

Brown and Hawkins' partnership began in Valdez, Alaska, in  More...

This cabin, possibly the oldest in the Canyon Creek drainage, is a symbol of the area's rich gold mining history. The cabin was built and used by the first generation of Canyon Creek miners. Northern European craftsmanship went into the construction of this cabin. The corner logs were dovetailed and hand-hewn. The ridgepole was hewn to fit the shape of the roof's peak.  More...

The construction of the Alaska Railroad took the influence of three Presidents and an Act of Congress to complete. It all started in Seward with the Ballaine brothers and a dream to connect a tidewater port with the rich resources of Alaska's Interior.

The town of Seward is just over 100 years old.  The origin of the town has to do with past glacial presence.   More...

The confluence of Canyon and Sixmile Creek was known as "The Forks" by early prospectors and was a staging area for miners to get to other gold-bearing creeks in the area. News of successful claims on Canyon and Mills creeks brought more than 3,000 gold seekers to seek their fortunes in 1896.

In 1906 the chapel was built to honor Father Igumen Nicolai and Makary Ivanov. Fr. Nicolai, Kenai's first priest, brought small pox vaccine, which saved the lives of hundreds of Dena'ina. The chapel is on the site of the original 1849 church, located in the northwest corner of the Russian fur trading post of Fort St. Nicholas.

In 1917, the train depot in Seward, Alaska was known as the “Gateway to Alaska.” On completion of the railroad in 1923, 500 miles of tracks connected the deepwater port of Seward with the interior town of Fairbanks.

During the 1964 Earthquake, the depot survived, but the track beside it did not. Tracks were rebuilt on higher ground, and with it came a new depot.  More...

The Hope-Sunrise Historical and Mining Museum exhibits photographs and artifacts of the Turnagain Arm Gold Rush of 1896 and the years since.

If you had looked at the Seward waterfront area before 1964, you would have seen fish processing plants, warehouses, a small boat harbor, various pleasure and commercial vessels, and huge Texico and Standard Oil tanks. You would also have seen the Alaska Railroad facilities and tracks which ran to the south end of town near where the Alaska Sea Life Center is today. That's where  More...

The Wible Camp is marked by Gold Rush Centennial interpretive signs at a pull-out 3.2 Miles south of the Hope Junction on the Seward Highway. Looking east of Canyon Creek, visitors can see a straight strip of alder brush on the hillside where miners dug a ditch used for hydraulic mining. The ditches were dug to collect and divert water into metal pipes. The highly pressurized water  More...

Segments of the trail near Seward (Nash Road) and Girdwood (Alyeska) can be hiked during summer.

Glaciers are formed when more snow accumulates than melts through the seasons. The weight of the snow creates pressure that turns snowflakes into dense, rivers of ice that shape the land.

John Hirshey called his mine Lucky Strike and it proved to be a sweet place for him to carve a life and make a living on the Last Frontier.

The Hirshey mine is located 12 miles from Hope on the Palmer Creek Road just below the 3,000-foot elevation on the east wall of Palmer Creek valley. The Hirshey Mine sits high above the timber line in the Kenai Mountains, a relic of the  More...

Because Homer loses so many loved ones at sea, mostly in the commercial fishing business, Homer residents constructed a Seafarers' Memorial near the end of the Spit, emblazoned with brass plates listing the names of mariners lost or killed at sea.

On the ocean side (not bay side) of Rugged Island you can look up on the ridge of this island and see a bright orange and white day marker just above an old WWII military look out station. Fort Bulkley was located on Rugged Island and this ridge was the first defense if any enemy boats were to enter the bay. As you come around the big open bay on the west side of the island you can  More...

Road cuts along the Seward Highway show the white quartz veins common in gold country. This is particularly evident 2.7 miles north of Turnagain Pass. A product of magma, quartz began as hot silica-rich solutions that moved along faults and crystallized into veins as they cooled. During the cooling process, gold and associated minerals crystallized in the bedrock to form mineral  More...

Alaska Nellie knew how to hunt, fish, trap and shoot charging grizzlies. When the need arose, she could also get anyone out of a jam -- like the mail carrier from Seward that she rescued from a winter storm.

Native people used Portage Pass as a way traverse between Cook Inlet and Prince William Sound. Prospectors also used this pass to get to the gold - sometimes with tragic results.

The Dena’ina people were adept at traveling by land, river or by sea, and settled in this area in part because of the abundance of salmon, moose and caribou.

Estes Grocery is a historic place made up of several buildings, one of which was once an old roadhouse. Come inside and see the historic photos in the visitor's center in the back room of this country store. Rumor has it that a friendly ghost lives here.

Although this cabin is not accessible from the road system, it bears mentioning as a National Historic Site in the Corridor.

Harry A. Johnson arrived in Seward in 1904 from Erie, Pennsylvania. A 30-year-old blacksmith, he came north to help build the railroad. He was hired on as a meat hunter for the railroad: By 1908 the Alaska Central was bankrupt, and by 1911, its  More...