Anchorage Daily News

DELTA JUNCTION

POPULATION: 1,039 (2006)

LOCATION: At the convergence of the Richardson and Alaska highways, about 95 miles southeast of Fairbanks.

DESCRIPTION: A community strategically located to provide services to summer tourist traffic. In 2004, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers completed construction of the Missile Defense Testbed at Fort Greely. The sixth and final interceptor missile planned for Fort Greely for 2004 was installed in its underground silo on Nov. 11, 2004. Ten additional interceptors are planned for installation this year. Other major employers are the Delta/Greely School District and Alyeska Pipeline Service Co. Several state and federal highway maintenance employees are located in Delta. Nearly 40,000 acres are farmed in the area, producing barley, other grains and forage, potatoes, dairy products, cattle and hogs.

HISTORY: In 1903 an overland trail was cut from Valdez to Fairbanks, and a roadhouse was soon established at the junction of the Delta and Tanana rivers. Ongoing mining just north of Delta Junction and the Chisana Gold Strike of 1913 brought prospectors and other travelers. It became known as Buffalo Center in 1927 for the American bison transplanted there in the 1920s. In 1942, construction of the Alaska Highway began, and a military base, later Fort Greely, was completed five miles south. Construction in 1974-77 of the trans-Alaska pipeline brought a dramatic surge in population and economy. In 1978 and 1982, the state created more than 35 agricultural farms.

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