Wrangell-St. Elias National Park & Preserve in Valdez-Cordova Census Area, Alaska — Northwest (North America)
Opening Up the Country
Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve
| | National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior | |
Photographed by William Fischer, Jr., August 13, 2024
1. Opening Up the Country Marker
Our long national experience in pushing our highways ahead of the controlling wave of settlement ought to convince us that the broadest liberality towards roads in Alaska will be sure to bring manifold returns.
President Warren G. Harding 1923
[If Col. Wilds Richardson] were to succeed in building a boulevard in the interior country he might succeed in immortalizing his name. Chitina Leader, 1913
The trail that we are engineering across the country will prove to be one of the most difficult pieces of engineering work undertaken.
Joseph Kerr, Valdez Trail engineer, 1900
Erected by National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior.
Topics. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: Roads & Vehicles. A significant historical year for this entry is 1923.
Location. 62° 1.248′ N, 145° 21.854′ W. Marker is in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park & Preserve in Valdez-Cordova Census Area, Alaska. It can be reached from Richardson Hwy. Marker is at the kiosk between the Copper Center Visitor Center and the parking lot, with street address of Mile 106.8 Richardson Highway (Alaska Hwy 4). Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Copper Center AK 99573, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in Alaska’s Alutiiq (Sugpiaq) Region, specifically in the Athabascan Region, in the Prince William Sound, and in Southcentral Alaska. It is also on the American Pacific Coast. Globally, it is in North America, the Pacific Rim, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once the Russian Empire.
Other nearby markers.
this page online
Also see . . . Copper River and Northwestern Railway (National Park Service). (Submitted on August 27, 2024, by William Fischer, Jr. of Reynoldsburg, Ohio.)
Photographed by William Fischer, Jr., August 13, 2024
2. Opening Up the Country Marker
Credits. This page was last revised on February 16, 2026. It was originally submitted on August 27, 2024, by William Fischer, Jr. of Reynoldsburg, Ohio. This page has been viewed 143 times since then and 10 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on August 27, 2024, by William Fischer, Jr. of Reynoldsburg, Ohio.
