ca 5,000 B.C.
Earliest known human habitation

ca 1743
Russian traders establish trading posts in Western and Southcentral Alaska

1778
Captain Cook discovers and names the “River Turnagain”

1794
Captain George Vancouver explores Southcentral Alaska

1839
Dena’ina population decimated by smallpox

1867
United States purchases Alaska Territory from Russia

1880
Ivan Petroff compiles first census of Alaska

1888
Gold discovered in Turnagain Arm area.

1896
James Girdwood stakes placer claim at Crow Creek

1898
Congress extends Homesteading Act to Alaska

1902
Alaska Central Railway construction begins at Seward

1910
First cabins built on the flats of Ship Creek

1912
Alaska becomes a United States Territory

1914
Alaska Engineering Commission created

1915
President Woodrow Wilson authorizes Alaska Railroad Anchorage townsite auction

Pioneer School established as Anchorage’s first school

1916
First regulation baseball diamond and grandstands constructed

Joe Spenard holds first ice carnival on Lake Spenard

Railroad workers form Alaska Labor Union

1917
All-Alaska Mid-Winter Carnival first held

1918
First train between Anchorage and Seward

1920
Anchorage is incorporated as a city
Leopold David begins first of three terms as Mayor of Anchorage

1923
President Warren G. Harding drives “Golden Spike” to complete the Alaska Railroad line from Seward to Fairbanks

1924
Eklutna Industrial School established

1925
Anchorage Golf Club organized

1926
First homestead established in South Anchorage by Thomas Hogan

Peter “Russian Jack” Toloff homesteads east Anchorage area

1929
Pioneer aviator Russell Merrill disappears while crossing Cook Inlet

1930
Merrill Field opened

1934
Construction begins on Providence Hospital by Sisters of Providence

1935
Robert Atwood becomes editor and publisher of Anchorage Daily Times

Matanuska Colony experiment begins

1937
First Fur Rendezvous held by Chamber of Commerce

1939
Providence Hospital opens

1940
Construction begins on Fort Richardson and Elmendorf Air Force Base

1942
Whittier Tunnel completed

1946
Austin “Cap” Lathrop’s 4th Avenue Theatre opens doors

1947
Z.J. Loussac elected mayor of Anchorage

1949
First traffic lights installed on Fourth Avenue

1950
First “Carrs” grocery store opens in Anchorage
Marvin "Muktuk" Marston lays out Turnagain-by-the Sea

1951
Completion of highway between Anchorage and Seward

1953
Mount Spurr erupts for first time in recorded history

1954
Anchorage Community College opens

1956
Anchorage named "All-American City"

1957
Oil discovered at Swanson River on the Kenai Peninsula

1959
Alaska becomes 49th state
Alaska Methodist University dedicated

1960
Alaska Methodist University begins classes

1964
Good Friday Earthquake

Greater Anchorage Area Borough created the State legislature

1965
Anchorage again named “All- American City” for earthquake restoration efforts

1968
Kincaid Park created from a former Nike missile site in South Anchorage

Largest oil field in North America discovered at Prudhoe Bay

1969
Walter Hickel named to Presidential Cabinet post, a first for any Alaskan

1971
President Richard Nixon and Emperor Hirohito meet at Elmendorf Air Force Base

Alaskan Native Claims Settlement Act (ANSCA) passed by Congress

1973
Joan Kimura designs official seal of Anchorage

First modern Iditarod Trail race held

1974
Construction begins on trans-Alaska Pipeline System (TAPS)

1975
4,000+ acre Bicentennial Park created in Southeast Anchorage

City of Anchorage and Greater Anchorage Area Borough unified into Municipality of Anchorage

1977
Completion of TAPS at a cost of over $8 billion dollars

Alaska Methodist University becomes Alaska Pacific University

1980
National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA) passed by Congress

1982
The Oscar Anderson House, built in 1915, is restored and opened to public

1983
Heritage Land Bank created

1984
Anchorage named “All-American City” for third time

1985
State of Alaska purchases Alaska Railroad from federal government

Anchorage named a U.S. bid city for Olympic games

1986
Kincaid Outdoor Center opens

1992
Mount Redoubt erupts in August, covering Anchorage in volcanic ash

1994
Tommy Moe wins gold medal at Winter Olympics

1996
Arctic Winter Games held in Chugiak/Eagle River

October 4th, 1996
Municipality of Anchorage goes ON-LINE!