Seward Alaska

Location and Climate
Seward is situated on Resurrection Bay on the southeast coast of the Kenai Peninsula, 125 highway miles south of Anchorage. It lies at the foot of Mount Marathon, and is the gateway to the Kenai Fjords National Park. Seward is located in the Seward Recording District. The area encompasses 15 sq. miles of land and 7 sq. miles of water. Seward experiences a maritime climate. Winter temperatures average from 17 to 38; summer temperatures average 49 to 63. Annual precipitation includes 66 inches of rain and 80 inches of snowfall.

History, Culture and Demographics
Resurrection Bay was named in 1792 by Russian fur trader and explorer Alexander Baranof. While sailing from Kodiak to Yakutat, he found unexpected shelter in this bay for a storm. He named the Bay Resurrection because it was the Russian Sunday of the Resurrection. The City of Seward was named for U.S. Secretary of State William Seward, 1861-69, who negotiated the purchase of Alaska from Russia during the Lincoln administration. In the 1890s, Capt. Frank Lowell arrived with his family. In 1903, John and Frank Ballaine and a group of settlers arrived to begin construction of a railroad. Seward became an incorporated City in 1912. The Alaska Railroad was constructed between 1915 and 1923, and Seward developed as the ocean terminus and supply center. By 1960, Seward was the largest community on the Peninsula. Tsunamis generated after the 1964 earthquake destroyed the railroad terminal and killed several residents. As an ice-free harbor, Seward has become an important supply center for Interior Alaska.

15.2% of the population are Alaska Natives. Seward is primarily a non-Native community, although the Mount Marathon Indians are very active in the community. The annual Fourth of July celebration and its grueling Mount Marathon race brings participants and visitors from Southcentral Alaska and beyond.

Economy and Transportation
As the southern terminus for the Alaska Railroad and road link to Anchorage and the Interior, Seward has long been a transportation center. The economy has diversified with tourism, commercial fishing, ship services and repairs, oil and gas development, a coal export facility for Usibelli Mine, a State Prison, and the University of Alaska's Institute of Marine Sciences. The new $52 million Alaska SeaLife Center opens in May 1998. The Chugach Heritage Center, housed in the historic train depot downtown, also is to open this spring. 81 residents hold commercial fishing permits. Seward hosted tourists from over 110 cruise ship dockings in 1997. Over 200,000 travelers toured the Kenai Fjords National Park visitors center in Seward in 1996.

Seward is connected to the Alaska Highway system by the Seward Highway. Daily air services and charters are available at the State-owned airport. Two paved runways are utilized, at 4,240 and 2,300 feet. The Port serves cruise ships, the State Ferry, cargo barges and ocean freighters from Seattle and overseas. The small boat harbor has moorage for 650 boats, and two boat launch ramps. The Alaska Railroad provides over 1.4 billion pounds of cargo transit each year, importing cargo for the Interior and exporting coal to the Pacific Rim. A new railroad depot was completed in the fall of 1997.


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Source: Department of Community & Economic Development