Valdez

Valdez, Alaska
—  City  —
Valdez, Alaska Location of Valdez, Alaska
Coordinates: 61°7′51″N 146°20′54″W / 61.13083°N 146.34833°W / 61.13083; -146.34833
Country	United States
State	Alaska
Census Area	Valdez-Cordova
Area
- Total	277.1 sq mi (717.6 km2)
- Land	222.0 sq mi (574.9 km2)
- Water	55.1 sq mi (142.7 km2)
Elevation	98 ft (30 m)
Population (2000)
- Total	4,036
- Density	18.2/sq mi (7.0/km2)
Time zone	Alaska (AKST) (UTC-9)
- Summer (DST)	AKDT (UTC-8)
Area code(s)	907
FIPS code	02-82200
GNIS feature ID	1412465

Valdez (pronounced /vælˈdiːz/) is a city in Valdez-Cordova Census Area in the U.S. state of Alaska. According to 2005 Census Bureau estimates, the population of the city is 4,020.^[1] The city is one of the most important ports in Alaska.

Economy

Valdez is a fishing port, for commercial and sport purposes. Freight moves through Valdez, utilising the year-round ice-free harbour, bound for the interior of Alaska. Sightseeing of marine life and glaciers, together with both deep-sea fishing, and heli-skiing support a tourist industry in Valdez. The oil from the Trans-Alaska pipeline is loaded onto ships at the Valdez oil terminal. It is sometimes called the Switzerland of Alaska.^{[citation needed]}

Alyeska Pipeline Service Company is one of the primary employers in town but it started to move several positions to its headquarters in Anchorage, after the town council passed a resolution levying a tax on all tankers coming into the port to be loaded with oil, which has had an impact in the population size and the economy.

Valdez is connected to the interior of Alaska by the Richardson Highway, and is a port of call in the Alaska Marine Highway ferry system. Just north of Valdez on the highway is Thompson Pass, which has spectacular waterfalls and glaciers next to the highway. Thompson Pass is also known for treacherous driving conditions during the winter.

Valdez is also known for heli-skiing, the city hosted the World Extreme Skiing Competition (WESC) in the early 90's. Soon afterwards, guided heliskiing was offered for visitors from around the world. Today there are several heli-ski outfits based in the greater Valdez area.

History

The port of Valdez was named in 1790 by the Spanish explorer Don Salvador Fidalgo after the Spanish naval officer Antonio Valdés y Basán. Because of a scam to lure prospectors off the Klondike Gold Rush trail, a town developed there in 1898. Some steamship companies promoted the Valdez Glacier Trail as a better way to reach the Klondike gold fields and discover new ones in the Copper River country of interior Alaska, as they claimed this was a better route, than from Skagway. The prospectors who believed the promotion found that they had been deceived. The glacier trail was twice as long and steep as reported and many died attempting the crossing and by contracting scurvy during the long cold winter. It wasn't gold that caused the town to flourish, but rather the building of the Richardson Highway in 1899 that connected Valdez and Fairbanks. With a new road and its ice-free port, Valdez became permanently established as the first overland supply route into the interior of Alaska. The highway was a summer-only highway until 1950, when it became a year-round route. ^[2]

Valdez in 1910.

In 1907, a shootout between two rival railroad companies ended Valdez’s hope of ever becoming the railroad link from tidewater to the Kennicott Copper Mine. The mine, located in the heart of the Wrangell-St.Elias Mountains, was one of the richest copper ore deposits on the continent. The exact location of the right-of-way dispute, in which one man was killed and several injured, is at the southern entrance of the canyon on the Valdez side. A half-completed tunnel in the canyon marks the end of railroad days in Valdez. A rail line to Kennicott was later established from the coastal city of Cordova.^[3]

The city of Valdez was badly shaken but not destroyed in the 1964 Good Friday Earthquake. Liquefaction of the glacial silt that formed the city's foundation led to a massive underwater landslide causing a section of the city's shoreline to break off and sink into the sea. The underwater soil displacement caused a local tsunami 30 feet (9.1 m) high that traveled westward, away from the city and down Valdez Bay. Thirty-two men women and children were on the city's main freight dock to help with and watch the unloading of the SS Chena, a supply ship that regularly called at Valdez. All 32 people perished as the dock collapsed into the ocean with the violent landslide. There were no deaths within the town itself. Residents continued to live there for an additional three years while a new site was being prepared on more stable ground four miles (6 km) away. The new construction was under the supervision of the Army Corps of Engineers. Fifty-four houses and buildings were transported by truck to the new site, reestablishing the new city at its present location. The original town site was dismantled and abandoned.^[4]

From 1975-1977, the Trans-Alaska pipeline was built to carry oil from the Prudhoe Bay oil fields in northern Alaska to a terminal in Valdez, the nearest ice-free port, where the oil is loaded onto tanker ships for transport. The construction and operation of the pipeline and terminal boosted the economy of Valdez.

The 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill occurred as the oil tanker Exxon Valdez was leaving the terminal at Valdez full of oil. The spill occurred at Bligh Reef, about 40 km (25 miles) from Valdez. Although the oil did not reach Valdez, it destroyed much of the marine life in the surrounding area. The clean-up of the oil caused a short-term boost to the economy of Valdez but bankrupted the neighboring Chugach tribe, who had depended on the sea for their livelihood.

The port of Valdez, set against a natural backdrop of mountains and daylight in July.

Geography and climate

Valdez is located at 61°7′51″N 146°20′54″W / 61.13083°N 146.34833°W / 61.13083; -146.34833.

Valdez is located near the head of a deep fjord in the northeast section of Prince William Sound in Alaska. It is surrounded by the Chugach Mountains, which are heavily glaciated. Valdez is the northernmost port in North America that is ice-free year-round. The northernmost point of the coastal Pacific temperate rain forest is in Valdez, on Blueberry Hill.^[5]

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 277.1 square miles (717.6 km²), of which, 222.0 square miles (574.9 km²) of it is land and 55.1 square miles (142.7 km²) of it (19.88%) is water.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 4,036 people, 1,494 households, and 1,042 families residing in the city. The population density was 18.2 people per square mile (7.0/km²). There were 1,645 housing units at an average density of 7.4/sq mi (2.9/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 83.62% White, 0.42% Black or African American, 7.19% Native American, 2.18% Asian, 0.45% Pacific Islander, 1.41% from other races, and 4.73% from two or more races. 3.96% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 1,494 households out of which 41.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.4% were married couples living together, 8.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.2% were non-families. 21.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 2.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.66 and the average family size was 3.15.

In the city the population was spread out with 29.7% under the age of 18, 7.3% from 18 to 24, 33.2% from 25 to 44, 26.4% from 45 to 64, and 3.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females there were 107.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 107.0 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $66,532, and the median income for a family was $74,188. Males had a median income of $56,932 versus $31,855 for females. The per capita income for the city was $27,341. About 5.0% of families and 6.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 5.3% of those under age 18 and 11.4% of those age 65 or over.

Oil Terminal

The Valdez Oil Terminal is an oil port in Valdez, at the southern terminus of the Alaska Pipeline. The terminal was the point of departure for the Exxon Valdez just prior to the Exxon Valdez oil spill.

There are 18 holding tanks at the terminal, and an average of one oil tankers departs from the terminal per day. Since the pipeline became operational in 1977, more than 15,000 tankers of oil have left the terminal. In recent years, pipeline throughput has declined due to increasing difficulty in locating new deposits on the Alaskan North Slope and tanker traffic has declined dramatically.

Media and culture

Despite its size, Valdez was at one time home to two weekly newspapers, the Valdez Star and the Valdez Vanguard. In 2004, the Star bought out the Vanguard. Valdez is also home to radio broadcasters KCHU, KVAK, KVAK-FM.

Valdez is also home to the Last Frontier Theatre Conference, hosted by the Prince William Sound Community College. The annual conference attracts playwrights and actors from around the United States.

On Deadly Ground (1994), was filmed at Worthington Glacier, Alaska, 30 miles (48 km) from Valdez on Thompson Pass in the Chugach Mountains.

Notable natives

• William Allen Egan, first governor of Alaska
• George M. Sullivan. Alaska politician
• William Riker. The fictional Star Trek: The Next Generation character

References

External links

• Valdez Official Website
• [2] Visitor Information
• [3] Valdez Museum & Historical Archive
• [4] Maxine & Jesse Whitney Museum
• [5] H2O Guides

• Valdez, Alaska is at coordinates 61°07′51″N 146°20′54″W / 61.13083°N 146.34833°W / 61.13083; -146.34833 (Valdez, Alaska)Coordinates: 61°07′51″N 146°20′54″W / 61.13083°N 146.34833°W / 61.13083; -146.34833 (Valdez, Alaska)

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