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Aviation

Air travel has long been an essential mode of transportation for Alaskan towns, and Valdez is no exception, being home to pioneer bush pilots such as Bob Reeve, Owen Meals, and Bill Egan. From the 1920s onward, aviators allowed remote communities sustained access to the outside world, and provided transport for miners, hunters, and others…

Fire Engines

In 1902, the year after Valdez’s incorporation, the community purchased an 1886 Gleason & Bailey hand pumped fire engine, and in 1907 purchased an Ahrens steam water pumper. As the pages of history turned, the community’s investment in these firefighting implements and construction of a fire hall by volunteers proved worthwhile; on several occasions both…