Kern, Alaska facts for kids

1914 Panorama photograph showing, at center-right, buildings at Kern Creek empting in to the Turnagain Arm

Kern is a former settlement on the Turnagain Arm in Alaska and a flagstop for the Alaska Railroad, about 71 miles (114 km) north of Seward, and 13 miles (21 km) east of Sunrise, Alaska. Kern was located near Kern Creek. In 1914 it was the end of the track of the Alaska Northern Railroad, after which it was purchased by the United States government.

In the summer of 1911 United States Secretary of the Interior, Walter L. Fisher, visited Kern as part of an inspection tour. The April 1915 contract to build a line of railroad from Seward to Kern was entered into the Congressional Record of the 64th United States Congress. The cost of shipping beer to Kern and other intermediate stations along the Alaska Railroad was entered in the Congressional Record of the 76th United States Congress in regard to the omnibus spending bill for that session and 1938 Senate hearings.

History

Many streams in the area were probably prospected. It was a terminus of the Alaska Railroad. In 1964, the town was destroyed by a tsunami after a magnitude 9.2 earthquake occurred in the Pacific Ocean. It is possible that most of the surviving buildings were knocked down due to safety concerns, though a few cabins probably remain hidden in the woods.

Geography

Kern was located south of Girdwood, Alaska. The town is now entirely overgrown by the Chugach National Forest, and no buildings are visible from the highway. Its remnants are located somewhere along the first southbound pulloff from the Seward Highway after passing Girdwood, as well as near the Alaska Railroad. There is still a marker that reads "Kern." The roads can still be seen, but the entire settlement is overgrown, and avalanches have buried and destroyed much of the town. Kern is located near Kern Creek.

The climate consists of windy summers and icy winters.

Demographics

Kern was likely settled by hopeful gold rushers.