Seward--part 1, intro and murals

Seward is a city of a bit over 3,000 people in the Kenai Peninsula Borough (county) of Alaska.  In 1793, a fur trading post was established by a Russian in what is Seward today.   The "modern" Seward was established in 1903.   It was named for William H. Seward who was responsible for the purchase of Alaska from Russia.

Statur of Seward next to historic hotel

There are murals throughout town, many created by the annual Mural in a Day event.  Here are pictures of a few of them.  I had fun going around town finding them.

The first honors the Iditarod Trail.  In the winter of 1908, a gold strike on Otter Creek, a tributary of the Iditarod River, prompted the Alaska Road commission to construct a trail from Seward to the Iditarod Mining District and then on to Nome.  In 1910-11 nearly 1000 miles of trail were surveyed, marked, and cleared.

The Iditarod, originally called the Seward to Nome Mail Trail, as a winter trail, and dog teams and sleds were the most popular mode of travel.  People, gold, mail,a nd freight flowed up and down the trail until the 1920s when mining declined and airplanes began to replace dog teams.

The annual Iditarod Trail Sled dog Race follows the old trail for the most part and commemorates the important role sled dogs played in the opening of the frontier in Alaska.  In 1978, Congress designated the Iditarod Trail a National Historic Trail.

According to James Kari, Assistant Professor of the University of alaska Native Language Center, "The name Iditarod comes from an Ingatlik and Holikachuk word hidedhod for the Iditarod River.  This name means "distant" or "distant place." 

Mural in honor of Fishermen

 

Fishing is still important in Seward.  On the 2 charts above, you can see some of the sea life harvested by fishermen today.

Many people fish for the sport of it and to feed their family.  Half way between our hotel and the center of town was a fishing area.  A girl and her family had fished and she caught the biggest fish of anyone in her family and was very proud of what she had caught.

 A local man was filleting her other fish.

I came at the end of the day.  Earlier, I was told, a lot of fish were being filleted!

The fish below were larger and caught by another man.  He and his family had caught a lot and were going to freeze, smoke, etc them for the future.

Halibut?  They WERE big

Mural:  Wallflower Garden sponsored by Holland America

Mural:  Mt Marathon Race

Above is the hill that people run/race up and down in the "Mountain Marathon."  You can see the trail if you look carefully. The first race was run in 1908 on an informal bet. The challenge was to run from that spot, to the top of the mountain and back, in under an hour.  The first official race took pace on July 4, 1915.  It is the oldest mountain race in the US.  You can see the history of the race  below.

At the small town museum (which was 1/2 packed up to soon move into the renovated and expanded town library), there was more history on the race.

Winners  in 2011 race and their times

1928-30 Winner, 16 yr old Ephraim K

The race trail is intended only for trained racers, not by the general public.  The racers go from an elevation of 30 feet to one of 3,022 feet.  The trail  is 3.1 to 3.5 miles long, depending on the route with an average slope of 38 degrees and a maximum of 60 degrees!   From 1963 to 1985 women raced with men until a separate women's race was created. 

The Men's Race record time of 43:21 was set in 1981.  The women's record was set in 1990 with a time of 50:30.  Because of the environmental impact, the # of adult racers had been set at 350 but was raised to 400 in 2012.

Mural in honor of Aviators 2005

The mural from 1999 were themed "Snapshots from our Past." 
Here are 2 parts of that mural which has lots of smaller murals to it:

Here are 3 "independent" murals with a similar theme:

Fog Woman

Raven, the Creator

Raven Releases the Sun, Moon, and the Stars

Seward was officially designated Mural Capital of Alaska in 2008 after its 12th mural was painted.
The Seward Mural Society has three goals:  to mental young and adult artists, to add to the beauty of the town, and to contribute to the town's economy by encouraging cultural tourism. 
You can see all of the official murals at:  http://www.sewardmuralsociety.com/murals.html
There are also independent murals in town including these:  http://www.sewardmuralsociety.com/othermurals.html

There were also mural on and across from the Sea Life Center:

And at the check in area for cruise ship passengers, there is a cute mural done, in parts, by area children, who are listed on the right.

BTW, the arrival center for cruise ships is a bit out of town...much more so than in the other ports we visited.

In order not to make this blog too long, I'll make a part 2 for Seward!    So enjoy this one!