Denali Borough, AlaskaEdit This Page

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United States Alaska Denali Borough

	Alaska Online Records

Borough Office

Denali Borough
PO Box 480
Healy, AK 99743
(907) 683-1330

Located in Tri-Valley Community Center on Healy Spur Road

Quick Facts

Wikipedia has more about this subject: Denali Borough, Alaska

Parent County

Boundary Changes

Record Loss

Places/Localities

Populated Places

• Anderson
• Clear
• Cantwell
• Denali National Park and McKinley Village
• Healy
  

Neighboring Boroughs and Census Areas

• Fairbanks North Star
• Matanuska-Susitna

Resources

Archives and Libraries

Tri-Valley Community Library
PO Box 400
Healy, AK 99743
(907) 683-2507

Located at Tri-Valley School on Suntrana Road

Biography

Cemeteries

Valley View Memorial Cemetery-Healy

Church History and Records

Court Records

Emigration and Immigration

Gazetteers

Genealogy

History

There was some trapping, prospecting, and market hunting in the area, but the history of Healy really begins with the construction of the Alaska Railroad.  Constuction began in the Healy area in 1918.  "Camp Healy" or "Canyon City" consisted of tents and shacks.  There were other construction camps in the area.  The Healy Fork post office was established in 1921.  The railroad was completed in 1923.  Most of the construction camps closed, but Healy became a permanent railroad station.  Freight trains overnighted there and passenger trains stopped there for lunch.  Healy had a population of 36 in 1930.

Federal land opened for mining at the same time the railroad was approved (1914).  The railroad route was specifically chosen to access the rich coal fields in the area.  In 1919, the Healy River Coal Corporation opened a mine at Healy.  Their office was in Healy, and they mined nearby.  In 1921, they moved their operation four miles up the Healy River.  Suntrana was the HRCC camp.  Suntrana had a population of 61 in 1930.  There were other mines in the area.  Usibelli Coal Mine was established in 1943.

There were no roads in the area until the late 1960's.  You couldn't drive from Healy to Suntrana, McKinley, or Nenana.  The Parks Highway was opened in 1971.  In 1978, Usibelli Coal Mine leased land from the railroad to establish the Tri-Valley subdivision near the Parks Highway.  The mining camps of Suntrana and Usibelli were closed, and most of the buildings were moved to the subdivision.  In 1986, the railroad auctioned off the entire town of Healy, and those buildings were also moved to the subdivision.  There is little left at Suntrana, Usibelli, or the original Healy.

In 1959, Clear was selected to become the site of a Ballistic Missle Earling Warning system.  Construction began that year, and it went into operation in 1961.  The site was run by the Air Force, but much of the work was done by contractors and civilian employees.  Arthur Anderson homesteaded in the area in the late 50's.  In 1959, he subdivided his homestead into house lots and sold most of them to civilian workers from Clear Air Force Base.  Anderson was incorporated as a city in 1962.

Land and Property

Maps

Military History and Records

Newspapers

Probate Records

Taxation

Vital Records

Societies, Libraries and Museums

Websites

• Denali Borough Trails to the Past
• Linkpendium
• USGenWeb Archives
• Denali Borough, Alaska GenWeb Project
• FamilySearch Family History Library Catalog

References

This Alaska-related article is a stub. You can help by expanding it. While this page is under construction, may we suggest Cyndi's List.