City Information on the Kenai Peninsula Alaska - Homer, Seward, Soldotna and More......

Homer, Alaska
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History

There is archeological evidence that the Homer area, including the Homer Spit, was used for camping
and fishing by the various native populations that inhabited the nearby areas.

The first Caucasian settlers to Homer arrived just before the turn of the century starting a coal mining
community with operations centered on the 4 1/2 mile long Homer Spit, an out thrust of land into the
northern shore of Kachemak Bay. After the local coal supplies along the northern shore of Kachemak Bay
were depleted, the town center shifted to the mainland. Whatever remained of the old town site on the
Spit was destroyed by fire in the 1930s. One cabin remained which is now part of the Salty Dawg Saloon.
The wharf, built to ship coal, became vital to the fledgling fishing industry.

Homer Pennock of the Alaska Gold Mining Company is responsible for naming the town. His stay was
brief however and he and his crew departed for the richer Klondike fields.

Various business ventures were tried in the early years of the small community, but for the most part, the
main economic base has been fishing, both commercial and sport. The waters around Kachemak Bay
and the lower Cook Inlet have an abundance of salmon, halibut, shrimp and crab. Prior to the 1964
earthquake most of this fishery based in Seldovia, a small community on the southern shores of
Kachemak Bay. The earthquake destroyed the town's waterfront and canneries and most operations were
transferred to the Homer area. Logging has also made a contribution to the local economy because of
the abundance of dead spruce trees killed by an infestation of spruce bark beetles.

The city of Homer was incorporated a few days after the earthquake and has grown from a handful of
settlers to a thriving community of around 4000 souls with an additional 4000 in the outlying area.

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