Anchorage Walking Tour

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Please join us on a walking tour of Anchorage. On this tour, you will experience past and present Anchorage, see evidence of our giant 9.2 earthquake from 1964, come face-to-face with a 3-story high whale sculpture, hear a iditarod sled dog story and a ghost story or two!

Even though Anchorage is a big city, by Alaska standards, it is difficult to get lost around here, even without your smart phone to guide you. Our town site was set up by the Alaska Railroad commission, a federal agency. They set the roads running according to the compass rather than the landscape. Using true engineer logic, they numbered the avenues 1, 2, 3… and so one. Then they chose catchy street names that you just can’t forget. There’s A street, B street, C street and so on. Clever right? Note, however, that there is no "J" Street. There are several stories about why the letter “J” was skipped. The most practical is that the letters J and I look too much alike on the street signs. The most scandalous is that in this area in the early 1900's, the letter "J" was slang for certain ladies of negotiable affections. The most likely is that it was omitted because the many Scandinavian residents could not pronounce the letter ‘yay. To hear a sample stop on the tour route, visit the tour samples list! Then come back here to download the tour.

Keep in mind that, although we will be sharing the history of Anchorage, the city, this area was previously occupied, at least seasonally, by the Dena’ina people for over 6,000 years. We encourage you to make time to visit the Alaska Native Heritage Center to experience some of the rich culture of the native peoples of Alaska.

To start your journey, proceed to our starting point at the corner of 4th and F St., in front of the log cabin.