Anchorage City Guide: Hidden Gems, Dark History & Local Secrets

Deep Dives

Articles

Longform stories and essays exploring Anchorage's history and culture

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The Butcher Baker

How a quiet Anchorage baker hunted women in the wilderness—and almost got away with it

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The Last Frontier City

Strip malls, moose calving in backyards, and the strange normalcy of living at 61 degrees north

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The Founding Tragedy

Anchorage was born in 1915 as a railroad town. Three years later, the Spanish flu arrived and killed half the Dena'ina population. Eight villages were abandoned. The Indigenous people who had lived there for centuries were erased just as the city was being built. This is the story Anchorage doesn't tell about itself.

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The Plane That Vanished

In 1972, House Majority Leader Hale Boggs and Alaska Congressman Nick Begich disappeared on a flight from Anchorage to Juneau. The largest search in Alaska history found nothing. Begich's name stayed on the ballot. He won the election. A dead man was elected to Congress, and fifty years later, nobody knows what happened.

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The Wettest Dry Town in Alaska

Alaska went dry two years before the rest of America. Anchorage responded by becoming a paradise for bootleggers. With only 1,900 residents, the town supported 40 speakeasies. Smugglers landed contraband at a hidden inlet. The city paid children bounties to rat out moonshiners. This is the story of Bootlegger's Cove.

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When the Ground Turned to Liquid: The 1964 Alaska Earthquake

For four and a half minutes, Anchorage shook at 9.2 magnitude — the most powerful earthquake in North American history. The ground didn't just crack. It liquefied.

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The Butcher Baker

How a quiet Anchorage baker hunted women in the wilderness—and almost got away with it

Read

The Last Frontier City

Strip malls, moose calving in backyards, and the strange normalcy of living at 61 degrees north

Read

When the Ground Turned to Liquid: The 1964 Alaska Earthquake

For four and a half minutes, Anchorage shook at 9.2 magnitude — the most powerful earthquake in North American history. The ground didn't just crack. It liquefied.

Read

The Butcher Baker

How a quiet Anchorage baker hunted women in the wilderness—and almost got away with it

Read

The Last Frontier City

Strip malls, moose calving in backyards, and the strange normalcy of living at 61 degrees north

Read

The Founding Tragedy

Read

The Plane That Vanished

Read

The Wettest Dry Town in Alaska

Read

When the Ground Turned to Liquid: The 1964 Alaska Earthquake

For four and a half minutes, Anchorage shook at 9.2 magnitude — the most powerful earthquake in North American history. The ground didn't just crack. It liquefied.

Read

Explore

Discover

Curated collections of curiosities, dark history, hidden gems, and more

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Darkness at the Edge

Serial killers, missing women, and the wilderness that hides everything

Curious Anchorage

Articles

The Butcher Baker

The Last Frontier City

The Founding Tragedy

The Plane That Vanished

The Wettest Dry Town in Alaska

When the Ground Turned to Liquid: The 1964 Alaska Earthquake

The Butcher Baker

The Last Frontier City

The Founding Tragedy

The Plane That Vanished

The Wettest Dry Town in Alaska

When the Ground Turned to Liquid: The 1964 Alaska Earthquake

The Butcher Baker

The Last Frontier City

The Founding Tragedy

The Plane That Vanished

The Wettest Dry Town in Alaska

When the Ground Turned to Liquid: The 1964 Alaska Earthquake

Discover

Darkness at the Edge

Curiosities

Hidden Gems

Lost Anchorage

Darkness at the Edge

Curiosities

Hidden Gems

Lost Anchorage

Darkness at the Edge

Curiosities

Hidden Gems

Lost Anchorage

The Guide

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Best Bars

Best Restaurants

Best Coffee Shops

Things to Do

Best Bars

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Things to Do

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