GirdwoodAlaska.com is the Girdwood Chamber of Commerce Web Site
Title
Girdwood Chamber of Commerce - Girdwood Alaska - Skiing, Accommodations, Activities, Restaurants, Services, Shopping and Alyeska Resort south of Anchorage Alaska
Description
Girdwood, originally named Glacier City, was founded as a gold mining town at the turn of the century with several gold claims being staked on Crow Creek and the Virgin and California Creek drainages. As the number of miners increased, a supply camp arose that also supplied a trail stop on the route between Seward and Ship Creek which is now Anchorage. James Girdwood was an Irish immigrant and linen merchant with four gold claims on Crow Creek. He later became the namesake for our mountain community.
Though founded as a mining town, the development of Girdwood was spurred by railroad construction begun by the Federal Government in 1915. The little town boomed with new businesses. Mining in the upper Crow Creek area continued into the late 1930's when mine closures by a World War II presidential order made Girdwood a near ghost town. In 1949, Girdwood again flourished as construction began on the Seward Highway connecting the seaport of Seward to Anchorage. In 1954, eleven local men formed the Alyeska Ski Corporation along with the beginnings of the hard-earned dream of a first-class ski resort. In 1960, the first chair lift and a day lodge was built. Francoise de Gunzburg, a Frenchman and a member of the Rothechild Banking family managed to secure a used chair lift from France that was dismantled, shipped to Alaska and rebuilt at Alyeska.
Then, tragedy struck. On Good Friday in 1964, an earthquake with the magnitude of 9.2 dropped the coastal edges along the Turnagain Arm 8 to 10 feet! Consequently, the townsite of Girdwood moved two and 1/2 miles up the valley to the present location. Three years later, the resort was sold to Alaska Airlines and the present General Manager, Chris von Imhof, then the Director of Tourism for the State of Alaska, was hired to run the resort. The Nugget Inn, the original hotel, was built and a second chair lift was constructed on the upper mountain.
