Homer

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Homer —  City  — Downtown Homer seen from Beluga Slough Location of Homer, Alaska Coordinates: 59°38′35″N 151°31′33″W / 59.64306°N 151.52583°W / 59.64306; -151.52583Coordinates: 59°38′35″N 151°31′33″W / 59.64306°N 151.52583°W / 59.64306; -151.52583 Country United States State Alaska Borough Kenai Peninsula Area  • Total 22.4 sq mi (58.1 km2)  • Land 10.6 sq mi (27.4 km2)  • Water 11.9 sq mi (30.7 km2) Elevation 95 ft (29 m) Population (2010)  • Total 5,003  • Density 220/sq mi (86/km2) Time zone Alaska (AKST) (UTC-9)  • Summer (DST) AKDT (UTC-8) ZIP code 99603 Area code(s) 907 FIPS code 02-33140 GNIS feature ID 1413141 Website www.ci.homer.ak.us

Homer is a city located in Kenai Peninsula Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. According to the 2010 Census, the population is 5,003. One of Homer's nicknames is "the cosmic hamlet by the sea"; another is "the end of the road".

Homer City Hall, located on Pioneer Avenue

Landmark: the Salty Dawg Saloon.

Homer has a winery, a meadery, and a brewery

Fog bank over Kachemak Bay

Old Town Homer. Islands and Oceans visitor center is at far right.

Kachemak Bay Campus seen from Heath street.

Geography

Homer is located at 59°38'35" North, 151°31'33" West (59.643059, -151.525900).^[1]

Homer is on the shore of Kachemak Bay on the southwest side of the Kenai Peninsula. Its most distinguishing feature is the Homer Spit, a narrow 4.5 mile (7 km) long gravel bar that extends into the bay, on which is located the Homer Harbor.

Much of the coastline as well as the Homer Spit sank dramatically during the Good Friday Earthquake in March 1964. After the earthquake, very little vegetation was able to survive on the Homer Spit.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 22.4 square miles (58 km²), of which, 10.6 square miles (27 km²) is land and 11.9 square miles (31 km²) is water. The total area is 52.83% water.

History

Tiller digs indicate that early Alutiiq people probably camped in the Homer area although their villages were on the far side of Kachemak Bay.

Coal was discovered in the area in the 1890s. The Cook Inlet Coal Fields Company built a town, dock, coal mine, and a railroad at Homer. Coal mining in the area continued until World War II. There are an estimated 400 million tons of coal deposits still in the area.

Homer was named for Homer Pennock, a gold mining company promoter, who arrived in 1896 on the Homer Spit and built living quarters for his crew of 50 men. However, gold mining was never profitable in the area.

Another earlier settlement was Miller's Landing. Miller's Landing is named after a Charles Miller who homesteaded in the neighborhood around 1915. According to local historian Janet Klein, he was an employee of the Alaska Railroad and had wintered company horses on the beach grasses on the Homer Spit. He built a landing site in a small bight in Kachemak Bay where supply barges from Seldovia could land and offload their cargos.^[2] Miller's landing was legally considered a census-designated place separate from Homer until it was annexed in 2002, but has always been locally considered part of Homer.

Homer has long been known as the "halibut fishing capital of the world" and halibut and salmon sport fishing, along with other tourism, commercial fishing, and logging are the dominant industries in the Homer area. Homer co-hosted the 2006 Arctic Winter Games. The Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge and the Kachemak Bay Research Reserve co-host a visitor center with interpretive displays known as the "Alaska Islands and Ocean Visitor Center",^[3] and there is a cultural and historical museum called "The Pratt Museum".

Demographics

As of 2004, there were 3,726 people, 1,523 households, and 955 families residing in town. The population density is 372.9 /sq mi (144.0 /km²). There are 1,873 housing units at an average density of 177.0 per square mile (68.4/km²). The racial makeup of the town is 88% White, 2.33% Black or African American, 4.88% Native American, 2% Asian, 1.19% Pacific Islander, 0.73% from other races, and 3.14% from two or more races. 2.41% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There are 1,523 households out of which 31.6% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.3% are married couples living together, 9.8% have a female householder with no husband present, and 36.9% are non-families. 29.7 % of all households are made up of individuals and 6.1% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.40 and the average family size is 2.99.

In town the population is spread out with 27.6% under the age of 18, 7.2% from 18 to 24, 26.9% from 25 to 44, 28.2% from 45 to 64, and 10.1% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 39 years. For every 100 females there are 97.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 98.7 males.

The median income for a household in town is $42,821, and the median income for a family is $53,571. Males have a median income of $38,063 versus $30,494 for females. The per capita income for the town is $21,823. 9.3% of the population and 7.7% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 11.6% of those under the age of 18 and 6.8% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.

Education

The Kenai Peninsula Borough School District provides primary and secondary education to the community of Homer. These schools are:

• Homer High School (9-12)
• Homer Flex High School (9-12)
• Homer Middle School (7-8)
• West Homer Elementary (3-6)
• Paul Banks Elementary (K-2)
• McNeil Canyon Elementary (K-6)
• Fireweed Academy (K-6)

The Kachemak Bay Campus of Kenai Peninsula College provides post-secondary education, as well as ESL and GED training to the community of Homer.

The Homer Public Library has enthusiastic support from the Friends of the Homer Library, established in 1948, which raised funds and support for a new library building, opened on September 16, 2006.

Media

Homer welcome sign.

Homer has two newspapers, the Homer Tribune, an independent weekly paper established in 1991, and the Homer News, a weekly founded in 1964 and bought in 2000 by Morris Communications.

Homer has a number of radio stations including commercial stations KWVV-FM at 103.5 FM, KMJG at 88.9 FM, KGTL at 620 AM, and public radio KBBI at 890 AM.^[5]

Homer receives 7 analog television stations:^[6] Because the stations are rebroadcast into Homer using repeaters, their channel numbers are not the same in Homer and they were not required to participate in the transition to digital television.

• KTUU-TV Channel 2 - NBC
• KTBY Channel 4 - Fox
• KAKM Channel 7 - PBS
• KYES Channel 9 - MyNetworkTV
• KTVA Channel 11 - CBS
• KYUR Channel 13 - ABC

Transportation

Main airport terminal.

Homer is the Southernmost town on the contiguous Alaska highway system. It is also part of the Alaska Marine Highway (the Alaskan ferry system). The regional airport lies near the coast as well, with two local air taxis and scheduled flights to Kenai and Anchorage. Homer erected its first traffic light in 2005.^[7]

Climate

Notable people from Homer

Eagles on the spit in Homer.

Notable people from or living in Homer include:

• Tom Bodett, writer. Bodett is known for the Motel 6 "We'll leave the light on for you" advertisements, and the whimsical book about Homer, As Far as You Can go Without a Passport.
• Lincoln Brewster, Christian Worship musician
• Andy and John Hillstrand, captains of the F/V Time Bandit crab boat on the television series Deadliest Catch, and Russell Newberry, who was a deckhand on several boats on the program.
• Jewel, singer/songwriter.
• Yule F. Kilcher (Jewel's grandfather), emigrated from Switzerland in the 1930s, hoping to start a colony in Homer of Swiss refugees from World War II. He was a delegate to Alaska's constitutional convention and served one term in the Alaska Senate from 1963 to 1967.
• Jean Keene (died January 2009), the "Eagle Lady" of Homer, known for her decades-long history of feeding bald eagles on Homer Spit.
• Larry Martin, competitor in cross-country skiing at the 1972 Olympic games in Sapporo, Japan. He spends his retirement from competition teaching others to ski.
• Brother Asaiah Bates was a fixture in Homer for many years for his pacifist views. He donated the site of his business to create the WKFL Peace Park.
• Andre Marrou was a resident of Homer when he was elected as a Libertarian to the Alaska House of Representatives in 1984.
• Shannyn Moore, political writer based in Alaska.
• Ambrose Olsen, a supermodel (1985–2010)

See also

Moose are a common sight on area roads and trails

Alaska portal

• Mile 17 fire
• Fritz Creek
• Diamond Ridge
• Kachemak City
• Homer Brewing Company

References

Homer from space

1. ^ "US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990". United States Census Bureau. 2011-02-12. http://www.census.gov/geo/www/gazetteer/gazette.html. Retrieved 2011-04-23. 
2. ^ Klein, Janet (1981). A History of Kachemak Bay. Homer, Alaska: Homer Society of Natural History. 
3. ^ http://www.islandsandocean.org/ Islands and Oceans homepage
4. ^ UNITED STATES OF AMERICA - ALASKA : urban population
5. ^ List of radio stations in Alaska
6. ^ TV Station List
7. ^ Homer News Online - News
8. ^ "Average Weather for Homer, AK - Temperature and Precipitation". weather.com. http://www.weather.com/weather/wxclimatology/monthly/graph/USAK0105. Retrieved November 15, 2011. 

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Homer, Alaska

• City of Homer official home page
• Pratt Museum
• Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge/Kachemak Bay Research Reserve visitor's center
• Homer News (Local print & on-line newspaper)
• Homer Tribune (Local print & on-line newspaper)
• Homer Public Library home page
• Fireweed Academy home page
• Homer, Alaska at the Open Directory Project

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