Seward
Seward is one of our favorite places for sights and recreation. If you’re into kayaking, bicycling and fishing then this is your kind of place! The city operates a very nice campground right on Resurrection Bay so you can fish just feet from your tent or just roast marshmallows and watch the boats go by. Seward is also home to the Alaska Sea Life Center, Exit Glacier, Caines Head State Park, SeaveyIdidaride and so much more.The silver salmon derby is popular here so if you’re fishing don’t forget your derby ticket!
Interesting History
Sewardis an incorporated home rule city in Alaska located on Resurrection Bay, a fjord of the Gulf of Alaska on the Kenai Peninsula, Seward is situated on Alaska’s southern coast, approximately 120 miles by road from Alaska’s largest city, Anchorage.Seward is the fourth-largest city in the Kenai Peninsula Borough, behind Kenai, Homer, and the borough seat of Soldotna. The city is named for former U.S. Secretary of State William H. Seward, who orchestrated the United States’ purchase of Alaska from the Russian Empire in 1867 while serving in this position as part of President Andrew Johnson’s administration.
Seward is the southern terminus of the Alaska Railroad and the historic starting point of the original Iditarod Trail to Interior Alaska, with Mile 0 of the trail marked on the shoreline at the southern end of town.In 1793, Alexander Baranov of the Shelikhov-Golikov company (precursor of the Russian-American Company) established a fur trade post on Resurrection Bay where Seward is today and had a three-masted vessel, the Phoenix, built at the post by James Shields, an English shipwright in Russian service.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 21.5 square miles, of which 14.4 square miles is land and 7.1 square miles (32.93%) is water.
The northern city limits are demarcated by the lower reaches of the Resurrection River, but extend east past the river’s mouth at the northern end of Resurrection Bay to include parts of the bay’s extreme northeastern shore, including the beach at the mouth of Fourth of July Creek and the grounds of Spring Creek Correctional Center just inland. To the south, the city limits extend to the unincorporated community of Lowell Point, while the east and west sides of the city are constrained by Resurrection Bay and the steep slopes of Mount Marathon. The nearest incorporated city is Soldotna, about 90 miles (by road) to the northwest.
Seward’s local economy is largely driven by the commercial fishing industry and seasonal tourism. Many lodging facilities, restaurants and shops in the city cater mainly to tourists, and are only open for business during the summer tourist season, generally regarded as running from mid-May through mid-September. Other major employers in the city include the state-run Spring Creek Correctional Center, the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development’s AVTEC vocational school, and the local Providence Health & Services branch, which also serves as the community’s main medical center.
Seward is the site of an annual salmon run which, in the 1920s, came to “countless millions” and supported a community of fisherman of mainly Scandinavian origin. It was then the headquarters of the halibut fleet.Seward is among the most lucrative commercial fisheries ports in the United States, according to reports from the National Marine Fisheries Service. Per the most recent yearly data available, for 2016, commercial fishing boats in Seward offloaded approximately 13,500 tons of fish and shellfish, valued at about $42 million. Over the course of the decade from 2007 to 2016, around $545 million in commercial seafood passed through Seward’s harbor.
Seward first appeared on the 1910 U.S. Census as an unincorporated village. It formally incorporated in 1912. As of the census of 2000, there were 2,830 people, 917 households, and 555 families residing in the city. The population density was 196.0 people per square mile (75.7/km2). There were 1,058 housing units at an average density of 73.3 per square mile (28.3/km2). The racial makeup of the city was 72.12% White, 2.44% Black or African American, 16.68% Native American, 1.84% Asian, 0.18% Pacific Islander, 0.88% from other races, and 5.87% from two or more races. 2.40% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.
Seward is a very bike friendly community. A paved bike path runs from the downtown business district along the waterfront, through the harbor and along the highway to mile 4.5. Bikes are available for rent and there are guided bike tours of the area.