Talk:Spenard, Anchorage

Start
This is a first shot at describing Spenard. Also, I think this should be the first in a series of articles that describe communities of Anchorage, since each really has sort of its own flavor and attitude, and some like Spenard, Portage, and Eagle River have very different histories from the rest of the city. &mdash; Ts'&eacute;iyoosh 00:45, 1 Nov 2004 (UTC)

Lumber camp?
A year ago, an anon added some material claiming Spenard began as a lumber camp, and Joe Spenard was its owner. Is there anything like a source on this? The assertion fails the Google test, at any rate; there isn't much about him online to begin with, but none of it (well, aside from this article, anyway!) indicates he was anything other than the owner of a resort and the City Express company. &mdash;Zero Gravitas 21:41, 9 June 2006 (UTC)

I believe Anchorage Place Names by Rae Arno, published in 2008, makes mention of this, and that Joe Spenard was actually squatting on a portion of Chugach National Forest at the time. My copy is currently inaccessible, so I cannot verify that. 199.165.96.57 (talk) 17:59, 11 May 2010 (UTC)

Local Small Business in Spenard
www.coastaltrailrentals.com Bicycle rentals and electric assist bicycle tours along the Turnagain Arm. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.95.146.161 (talk) 21:18, 6 March 2009 (UTC)
 * Try Wikivoyage or DMOZ. RadioKAOS / Talk to me, Billy / Transmissions 06:37, 17 May 2014 (UTC)

Was Spenard ever really a city?
I would contend no, at least based on what evidence I've seen. The 12th Territorial Legislature authorized the creation of service districts for unincorporated urbanized areas. The Spenard Public Utility District was organized in 1949. In terms of agenda, it was more or less the direct forerunner to the Greater Anchorage Area Borough, particularly in relation to the fact that John Asplund led both entities for many years.

Most maps I've seen indicate that the city limits of Anchorage reached as far as Northern Lights Boulevard, but do not show any city of Spenard. Furthermore, I am looking at a publication released by the "Rural 30 Convention," held at West Anchorage High School on February 26-27, 1966. This was a group of GAAB residents from outside of existing city limits at the time, opposed to a unified municipality in the Anchorage area (which did occur 9 years later). Of the 58 delegates listed, 21 appear to be from Spenard or the immediate area.

The closest thing I've seen referring to a "city" of Spenard was the photo of Alaska's first escalator, located in the Caribou's Department Store after they moved from Mountain View to Spenard. This store later became Montgomery Ward and is now REI. Anyway, a faux city limits sign delineating the boundary between Anchorage and Spenard is placed next to the escalator. 199.165.96.57 (talk) 17:59, 11 May 2010 (UTC)

To further continue, this is an excerpt from the City of Anchorage 1959 Annual Report, published February 1960:

"Three annexation elections were held in 1959. The first, proposing the annexation of Spenard, failed to pass on March 31. On June 16, the citizens passed on the annexation of North Spenard..." RadioKAOS (talk) 00:15, 29 May 2010 (UTC)


 * According to the Post Office, yes. Mail addressed to Spenard, AK was still being delivered well into the 1980s (I don't know whether that's still the case). I've definitely seen Spenard on maps. One old map I remember showed Spenard with a larger dot than Anchorage. :-) On an unrelated issue, why is the illustration a picture of downtown? Nice shot, but it's not Spenard. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.199.5.72 (talk) 12:27, 6 October 2010 (UTC)


 * You can see a 1956 map that shows Spenard at maps.com —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.199.5.72 (talk) 12:43, 6 October 2010 (UTC)

Spenard never was really a city
As far as I know, Spenard was never a separate city or town under the meaning of this term in Alaska law. It was never separately incorporated (nor was the "town" of Mountain View). The existence of a Post Office may simply correspond to a USPS decision about a post office, or may simply indicate a Census Designated Place that is not a legal city or town. Prior to the formation of the Greater Anchorage Area Borough in 1964, Spenard was simply a part of the unincorporated environs of Anchorage.

Nor did the city of Anchorage bulldoze "dozens" of buildings along 4th Avenue during the pipeline days. A few buildings here and then may have been condemned, but the north side of 4th Avenue, from about E to C Streets, was lost when the ground slipped during the 1964 earthquake.

So few verifiable claims are made in this article that it should be substantially cleaned up. It is now simply a collection of local lore and legend.

65.190.95.193 (talk) 01:48, 23 June 2012 (UTC)

Since most of the historical events under discussion occurred prior to statehood, appealing to "Alaska law" in this context is meaningless (unless perhaps you're talking about Alaska Territorial Law). The map link above (from National Geographic, no less) shows both Spenard and Mountain View as cities. Ancient Carthage wasn't "incorporated" (or the equivalent) under the current laws of Tunisia, either. That doesn't mean it wasn't a city. 76.199.5.141 (talk) 02:23, 22 November 2012 (UTC)
 * At any rate, it's rather whimsical. In early-day Anchorage, today's 16th Avenue marked the boundary between the townsite and Chugach National Forest.  It's quite logical to assume that logging occurred down that road, but it hasn't been established whether or not it occurred with the blessing of the government.  The area south of Anchorage proper was opened up to settlement starting in the 1930s.  Spenard Road by that point was a farm road, which led as far as the farms north and east of Sand Lake.  It later provided access to what is now Lake Hood Seaplane Base when the canal was cut between Hood and Jeter (Spenard) Lakes.  Except for the collection of cabins and fur farms near the mouth of Chester Creek (known as Romig Hill), there was no "Spenard community" per se until Earl Hillstrand (the grandfather of those guys from Deadliest Catch) platted the corner of Spenard and Fireweed (the same subdivision where Chilkoot Charlie's sits today) in 1946.  Mountain View had a definite head start on Spenard, but Spenard grew much faster. RadioKAOS / Talk to me, Billy / Transmissions  06:37, 17 May 2014 (UTC)

Oh yeah: we seem to have descended into "the definition of 'is' is" when it comes to describing Spenard as a city. "City" as in incorporated municipality, absolutely not. RadioKAOS / Talk to me, Billy / Transmissions 06:37, 17 May 2014 (UTC)