Port Wakefield, Alaska facts for kids

Port Wakefield is a ghost town in Alaska, a state in the United States. A ghost town is a place where people used to live and work, but now it's mostly empty. Port Wakefield is found on the northeast side of Raspberry Island. This island is part of the Kodiak Archipelago, which is a group of islands near the western edge of the Gulf of Alaska.

How Port Wakefield Started

Port Wakefield began in the 1930s. A man named Lee Howard Wakefield started a business there. His family used to have a salmon canning company called Apex Fish Company in Anacortes, Washington. Lee moved the business and changed its name to Wakefield Fisheries. At first, they processed herring, a type of fish.

The Rise of King Crab

In 1939, Lee's sons, Howard, Lavern, and Lowell, started trying something new. They began fishing for and processing king crab. This was an experiment to see if they could make a business out of it.

Lowell Wakefield became very important to the Alaskan king crab industry. He found a way to flash-freeze cooked king crab. This meant the crab could be kept fresh for a long time. They started focusing on crab because there were fewer herring in the nearby waters.

A Growing Community

As the crab business grew, so did Port Wakefield. Besides the processing plant and cold storage, new buildings were added. Workers and their families moved there. They built cedar log houses and even a schoolhouse. At its busiest, about 100 people lived in Port Wakefield.

The Great Alaska Earthquake of 1964

Port Wakefield faced a huge challenge in 1964. A very powerful earthquake hit Alaska, followed by a tsunami. This earthquake was the strongest ever recorded in North America. It was so strong that Raspberry Island, where Port Wakefield was located, sank by about six feet!

The town itself wasn't completely destroyed. However, the earthquake and tsunami made it impossible for the cannery and the community to keep going. The land was later bought by new owners. Today, it is used for tourism, with wilderness lodges for visitors.

Moving On to Port Lions

After the disaster, the crab processing plant moved to a new place. It went to Port Lions on Kodiak Island. This new spot was much easier to reach and had better dock and harbor facilities. A long causeway and a new road connected the plant to Port Lions.

Some of the cedar log houses from Port Wakefield were even moved! They were carefully placed on barges and floated to Port Lions. You can still see some of these old houses there today. Sadly, the plant in Port Lions later burned down and was never rebuilt.