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Mining

While the Gold Rush brought in thousands of prospectors to the Valdez region, very few made their fortunes. By the 1910s, the era of the lone prospector panning for gold along the river beds was nearing a close, becoming eclipsed by larger scale hard-rock mining operations run by corporations. Off of the glacier moraine of…

P.S. Hunt

The storefront and portrait studio represent those of early Valdez photographer P.S.  Hunt. The Sacramento optician came to Valdez in 1898 as a gold rush prospector. Before leaving in mid-1916 to work on the Alaska Railroad, Hunt made thousands of photographs of Valdez from its 1898 beginning through its heyday in the teens. Hunt was…

Railroads

From 1901 to 1909, Valdez’s newspapers were filled with headlines eagerly announcing the formation of a railroad to be built from Valdez. Promoters and financiers were encouraged by the success of Alaska’s gold rush. As many as a dozen railroads were proposed with Valdez as a terminus, yet most of these did not even get…

Parlor

In the years following the Gold Rush, the population of Valdez dropped substantially, from about 7000 in the 1910’s to approximately 1000 in 1920. Yet Valdezans took pride in their modernity and their ability to maintain a high standard of living. Homes contained most of the amenities of houses elsewhere in the United States. The…

Valdez Trail – Richardson Highway

Since it was founded, Valdez has been the supply and service point for construction and maintenance crews, a staging area for travelers, and the political strength behind movements to upgrade the road. The ups and downs of Valdez’s economy and population have often been tied to the demand for and use of the Richardson Highway….