Talkeetna, Alaska


Talkeetna is a census-designated place in Matanuska-Susitna Borough, Alaska, United States. For statistical purposes, the United States Census Bureau has defined a larger area as a census-designated place that may not correspond with the local understanding of the community. At the 2020 census the entire CDP's population was 1,055, up from 876 in 2010.

Geography

Talkeetna is at the confluence of three rivers, the Susitna, Chulitna, and Talkeetna. Talkeetna began in 1916 when the area was chosen as a district headquarters for the Alaska Railroad. A post office opened as well as a sawmill, trading post, cigar and donkey store, and other businesses, as well as many cabins. In 1917, the residents encouraged the government to survey the lots on which their homes stood. In 1919, the railroad surveyed and auctioned 80 lots, 41 of which already had permanent structures on them. The average price at the sale was $14.25.
Flightseeing, rafting, mountain biking, homestead tours, hiking, camping, fishing, and hunting make up a large portion of the local economy. Talkeetna is a 2½-hour drive from Anchorage. The core downtown area is on the register of National Historic Places, with buildings dating from the early 1900s, including Nagley's General Store, Fairview Inn, and the Talkeetna Roadhouse.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has an area of, of which is land and is water.

Climate

The climate is continental subarctic, but the short warm season and long winters give the town boreal features and in terms of vegetation is composed of taiga. Even though the cold, dry air comes from the north, the moisture acquired comes from the Gulf of Alaska. That is, summers are of between short and average length. It is lighter than Yellowknife, Canada at similar latitudes due to the moderating effect of the Pacific Ocean and the adiabatic warming of the descending air from the surrounding mountains. The average annual temperature is 0.8 °C. The average precipitation is not as high but relatively well distributed during the year, about 686 mm on average.
;Notes:

Demographics

Talkeetna originally appeared on the U.S. Census as a discrete village in 1920. Its population was included by the Census Bureau within the much larger census-designated place after 1990.
The 2020 population of the entire CDP was 1,055. As of the census of 2000, there were 772 people, 358 households, and 181 families residing in the CDP. The population density was. There were 528 housing units at an average density of. The racial makeup of the CDP was 87.95% White, 3.76% Native American, 0.13% Asian, 1.30% from African American, and 6.87% from two or more races. 1.04% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There were 358 households, out of which 28.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 38.0% were married couples living together, 7.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 49.4% were non-families. Thirty-eight percent of all households were made up of individuals, and 6.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.16 and the average family size was 2.92.
In the CDP, the population was spread out, with 23.3% under the age of 18, 5.8% from 18 to 24, 35.4% from 25 to 44, 29.4% from 45 to 64, and 6.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females, there were 113.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 114.5 males.
The median income for a household in the CDP was $38,289, and the median income for a family was $46,818. Males had a median income of $34,732 versus $26,250 for females. The per capita income for the CDP was $23,695. About 7.2% of families and 10.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 8.8% of those under age 18 and none of those age 65 or over.

Economy

Talkeetna is the base for expeditions to Denali. The Denali National Park's Walter Harper Talkeetna Ranger Station is in Talkeetna. Tourists travel to Talkeetna each summer to fish salmon, raft and go flightseeing. Products by local artists, musicians, and craftspeople are available in area stores.

Susitna Dam

The Susitna Dam is a proposed hydroelectricity plan by the State of Alaska. On July 25, 2011, the Governor of Alaska signed a bill to construct the dam on the glacier-fed Susitna River. The dam, if built to its full design height, would be the fifth-tallest of the nearly 850,000 dams on Earth. The Susitna River, America's 15th-largest by volume, flows unimpeded for from glacial mountains through one of the planet's last wild landscapes to meet the Pacific near Anchorage.
Soon after the dam's construction was announced, the Coalition for Susitna Dam Alternatives was formed to fight its construction. It argues that recreation, nature, and the town would be severely threatened by the dam, comparing it to the Three Gorges Dam in China.

Events

Every March, the Oosik Classic Ski Race is organized by the Denali Nordic Ski Club. Distances are approximate and trail conditions are variable.
The Moose Dropping Festival, a two-day celebration held each July to raise funds for the Talkeetna Historical Society, ended with the organization's announcement on August 21, 2009, that it had been canceled. The 2009 event drew record crowds, resulting in multiple arrests and injuries and one death. The event was named after a lottery in which participants bet on numbered, varnished pieces of moose feces, or "moose droppings", dropped from a helicopter onto a target.
In December, the Wilderness Woman and Bachelor Auction & Ball takes place.
Talkeetna's largest celebration of winter, Winterfest, takes place in December and features a motorized Parade of Lights, a Christmas tree in the Village Park, a Taste of Talkeetna, numerous special events hosted by local businesses, and special events at Talkeetna Public Library.
Clothing company Carhartt sponsors an event in Talkeetna every winter. Attendees tell stories about the mechanical, animal, and other encounters their Carhartt clothes have survived.

Government

Since Talkeetna is only a census-designated place, it is unincorporated. Talkeetna has a Community Council and its mayor was a cat named Stubbs from 1997 until his death in 2017. It is in Matanuska-Susitna Borough's District 7, which is represented by Assembly Member Vern Halter, who succeeded borough mayor Larry DeVilbiss.
A popular rumor is that Stubbs was elected by a write-in campaign by voters who opposed the human candidates. But according to NPR, the cat could not have been elected as a write-in candidate because "The tiny town has no real mayor, so there was no election". Stubbs's position was honorary as the town is unincorporated. On August 31, 2013, Stubbs was attacked and mauled by a dog while roaming the streets and, after treatment by a veterinarian, returned home on September 9. He died on July 21, 2017, at the age of 20 years and 3 months. Since then, a cat named Aurora has been the unofficial mayor.

Legislative representation

;Representation in the Alaska Senate
  • District E – two-member, at-large district for the Third Division, which consisted of nearly all of Southcentral Alaska and most of Southwest Alaska
  • * Ralph E. Moody, D-Anchorage
  • * Irene E. Ryan, D-Anchorage
  • * Vance Phillips, R-Anchorage
  • * Howard W. Pollock, R-Anchorage
  • * Nicholas J. Begich, D-Fort Richardson and Spenard
  • District G – single-member district which covered an area coterminous with the present-day Municipality of Anchorage and Matanuska-Susitna Borough
  • * J. Earl Cooper, D-Anchorage
  • * Seaborn J. Buckalew, Jr., D-Anchorage
  • * Brad Phillips, R-Anchorage
The area-based apportionment scheme, established in the Alaska Constitution, was abolished following the decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in Reynolds v. Sims, affirmed by the Alaska Supreme Court in its decision in Nolan v. Wade. Both houses of the legislature were apportioned based strictly on population from this point forward.
  • District D
  • * Jan M. Koslosky, R-Palmer
  • * Jalmar M. Kerttula, D-Palmer
  • District I – represented by Jalmar M. Kerttula throughout its existence
  • District E – the previous District I, coterminous with both the MSB and the two-member House District 16, was changed due to further redistricting ordered through the decision in Carpenter v. Hammond. The new district was a two-member district, with designated seats A and B, and combined the MSB with portions of Anchorage and the Kenai Peninsula Borough. This "donut district", which encircled most of Anchorage, was ruled improper in a later court case, No further redistricting was ordered, however, due to the fact that this decision was reached approximately 2 years before the start of the next redistricting cycle.
  • * District E, Seat A
  • ** Jalmar M. Kerttula
  • * District E, Seat B
  • ** Edna B. DeVries, R-Palmer
  • ** Mike Szymanski, D-Anchorage
  • ** Curt Menard, D-Wasilla
Subsequent redistrictings created 40 House districts and 20 Senate districts. This was included with the redistricting amendments to the Alaska Constitution ratified by voters in 1998, which means that future redistricting boards are compelled to follow the same scheme.
  • District N
  • * Jalmar M. Kerttula
  • * Lyda Green, R-Wasilla
  • District H
  • * Scott Ogan, R-Palmer
  • * Charlie Huggins, R-Wasilla
  • District D
  • * Mike J. Dunleavy, R-Wasilla
  • * Mike Shower, R-Wasilla
  • District O
  • * Mike Shower, R-Wasilla
;Representation in the Alaska House of Representatives
  • District 9
  • * James J. Hurley, D-Palmer
  • * Jalmar M. Kerttula, D-Palmer
  • District 7
  • * Eugene Reid, R-Palmer
  • * Jalmar M. Kerttula
  • District 6
  • * Alfred O. Ose, D-Palmer
  • * Patrick J. Carney, D-Wasilla
  • District 16 – increasing population in the MSB during the 1970s meant that the borough was apportioned two seats. The scheme in place for this redistricting cycle placed the more densely populated portions of Alaska into two-member districts, with designated seats A and B.
  • * District 16, Seat A
  • ** Barbara Lacher, R-Wasilla
  • ** Katie Hurley, D-Wasilla
  • ** Curt Menard, R -Wasilla
  • ** Patrick J. Carney
  • * District 16, Seat B – represented by Ronald L. Larson throughout its existence
Subsequent redistrictings created 40 House districts and 20 Senate districts. This was included with the redistricting amendments to the Alaska Constitution ratified by voters in 1998, which means that future redistricting boards are compelled to follow the same scheme.