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Ship Creek Blossoms
Unlike other settlements in Alaska's past, Anchorage didn't evolve as a result of major gold discoveries, lucrative fur trading or rich fisheries. It developed because the federal government wanted to get Alaska's vast resources to tidewater.
In order to access massive coalfields in the Matanuska Valley, it decided to lay 470 miles of railroad track that would eventually connect Seward with Fairbanks, where abundant supplies of gold awaited transport to the coast.
While studying routes to get those resources to tidewater, the Alaska Engineering Commission came upon Ship Creek, which was centrally located between Seward and Fairbanks. It had a protected anchorage that could be dredged and a large amount of flat land on which a construction camp could be built.
 The Alaska Engineering Commission chose Ship Creek Landing as the headquarters of the new government railroad. A tent city filled with job seekers sprang up in the wilderness at the mouth of Ship Creek, seen here in April 1915.
University of Washington
John E. Thwaites Collection
THW247
 Dirt streets in Ship Creek's tent city turned to mud in the rain. Sanitation quickly became a major problem. Businesses and buildings along this street include Two Girls Waffle House and Young American Lodging House.
Anchorage Museum of History and Art
General Photograph File
AMRC-b83-146-6
 A woman identified as Miss White drives the first spike in the track for the government's Alaska Railroad in Ship Creek on April 29, 1915.
University of Washington
John E. Thwaites Collection
THW240
 Passengers arriving at Ship Creek walked up to the business district of Anchorage on the boardwalk on the left side of the photograph. Alaska Railroad buildings are pictured in the distance, looking north toward Government Hill across the Ship Creek area.
Anchorage Museum of History and Art
General Photograph File
AMRC-b71-71-86
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