On South Valley Way at Elmwood Avenue, on the right when traveling south on South Valley Way.
Balto was the lead dog of Gunnar Casson's dog team.
This team was the final team of the diphtheria serum run
to Nome from the Railroad Station in Nenana in 1925.
This sculpture was made possible by the efforts of the
Butte Elementary . . . — — Map (db m254875) HM
On Elmwood Avenue east of Eklutna Avenue, on the left when traveling east.
The Bill Hermann Tennis Courts
were constructed in the 1970s
with a donation from Bill Hermann.
Bernard "Bernie" Nieman faithfully
cared for these courts for 30 years.
Courts were reconstructed in 2022 by Mat-Su Tennis Association . . . — — Map (db m254876) HM
On East Elmwood Avenue east of Chugach Street, on the right when traveling east.
This house was constructed in 1935 as the farm home
of a Matanuska Valley Colonist family. It was relocated
in July 1995 from Farm Tract No. 94 to this permanent
site within Palmer's Historic District. Working together to
preserve our local . . . — — Map (db m254888) HM
On Alaska Street south of Dahlia Street, on the left when traveling south.
This park is dedicated to the agricultural pioneers of the
Matanuska Valley and particularly to those that participated
in the Matanuska Valley Colonization Project of 1935,
who by their labor and perseverance gave birth to
the City of . . . — — Map (db m254849) HM
On Alaska Street at Evergreen Avenue, on the right when traveling north on Alaska Street.
The story of the little locomotive resting here today begins even before it was
built, with early discovery of high grade coal in the northern hills along the
Matanuska river. Around 1900 the U.S. Navy needed a source of coal on the
west coast . . . — — Map (db m254850) HM
On South Valley Way south of Elmwood Avenue, on the left when traveling south.
The riches of the Matanuska River valley have sustained settlement in this area for thousands of years.
GOLD MINING
Prospectors went into the mountains to look for gold and minerals, and early trading posts were set up on the . . . — — Map (db m254667) HM
On South Valley Way south of Elmwood Avenue, on the left when traveling south.
Agriculture was an essential enterprise for the successful settlement of Alaska.
The Klondike Gold Rush of 1897-98 brought thousands of fortune seekers north. Many of them settled on homesteads when their mining days were over. . . . — — Map (db m254664) HM
On South Valley Way at Elmwood Avenue, on the left when traveling south on South Valley Way.
The Matanuska Colony Historic District was established in 1991 to recognize the unique history and architecture of the Matanuska Colony Community Center, built in 1935 and 1936 as the central area of the Matanuska Colony Project. . . . — — Map (db m254646) HM
On Glenn Highway (State Highway 1) 0.2 miles north of Palmer-Fishhook Road, on the right when traveling north.
Robert Hatcher
discovered rich
gold-streaked quartz
veins in the rugged Talkeetna Mountains 10 miles northwest of here in
1906. After additional discoveries, hard-rock mining propelled Hatcher
Pass to second in production of lode gold in . . . — — Map (db m254893) HM
On South Valley Way south of Elmwood Avenue, on the left when traveling south.
Most record-setting vegetables are judged by
their weight. But what does a world-record
cabbage or carrot look like?
This sculpture features life-sized replicas of
the cabbage, beet, zucchini and carrot grown
in the Matanuska Valley in . . . — — Map (db m254729) HM
On East Elmwood Avenue east of South Valley Way, on the left when traveling east.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
The Matanuska Colony Project created headline news
around the world. It was a story of hope in the 1930s
Great Depression. President Franklin D. Roosevelt
promised to build new communities and put people to
work . . . — — Map (db m254747) HM
On East Elmwood Avenue east of South Valley Way, on the left when traveling east.
CONSTRUCTION WORKERS
Hired as transient workers, unemployed men from
California assisted in building a tent city before
constructing the colonists' farm houses. To discourage them
from staying, they received half their pay in Alaska and . . . — — Map (db m254764) HM
On East Elmwood Avenue east of South Valley Way, on the left when traveling east.
ST. MIHIEL U.S. ARMY TRANSPORT SHIP
Built on Hog Island, Pennsylvania for World War I she was to be called the Sinnemahoning.
named for a Native American tribe. Following declaration of Armistice Day, November
11, 1918, the ship was named . . . — — Map (db m254766) HM
On East Elmwood Avenue east of South Valley Way, on the left when traveling east.
Changing Her Mission
November 1943 the St. Mihiel was called to serve the war effort in a different capacity. Once again drafted by the Army,
she was sent to Bethlehem Steel Company shipyards in Boston for repairs and remodeling. She . . . — — Map (db m254793) HM WM
On East Elmwood Avenue east of South Valley Way, on the left when traveling east.
COMMUNITY CENTER
You are in the administrative center of the Matanuska Valley Colony Historic District.
Today, some of the public buildings have been rehabilitated. The teacher[s'] dormitory is a hotel, the school serves as the . . . — — Map (db m254825) HM
On East Elmwood Avenue east of South Valley Way, on the left when traveling east.
DAVID R. WILLIAMS
ARCHITECT
David Reichart Williams, appointed
as chief architect for the Federal
Emergency Relief Administration,
planned 84 of the 100 resettlement
communities.
After researching Alaska's climate and
agricultural . . . — — Map (db m254829) HM
On East Elmwood Avenue east of South Valley Way, on the left when traveling east.
HISTORIC DISTRICT 1935-1936
The Historic District is a tribute to Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal, David R. Williams and the Colonists.
MATANUSKA COLONY COMMUNITY CENTER
Listed on The National Register of Historic Places . . . — — Map (db m254843) HM
On East Elmwood Avenue east of South Valley Way, on the left when traveling east.
INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX
The Matanuska Colony Project provided
not only farms, schools and administration buildings, but also
power and processing plants. The cannery, creamery, and
vegetable sorting center helped to distribute farm . . . — — Map (db m254844) HM
On East Elmwood Avenue east of South Valley Way, on the left when traveling east.
Honoring the 202 families from Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota who braved the migratory transition from the Depression-torn years of strife and struggle to the promised land of fertile Matanuska Valley, and in their endeavor, with faith, hope, . . . — — Map (db m254739) HM
On East Elmwood Avenue east of South Valley Way, on the left when traveling east.
This tree was planted on July 27, 1989
by Wasilla Mayor John Stein and
Palmer Mayor George Cartι and their
city councils to commemorate the
beginning of their sister city
relationship, for the greater well being
and prosperity of . . . — — Map (db m254847) HM
On South Valley Way south of Elmwood Avenue, on the left when traveling south.
In this garden you'll find the OS Cross cabbage, an F1
hybrid variety that is referred to as the "giant cabbage".
The variety was bred to grow much larger and heavier
than standard cabbages as illustrated by the sculpture.
Farmers . . . — — Map (db m254730) HM
