How well do you know Anchorage history? Time for the test

Pop quiz! How well do you know your Anchorage history?

1. Who or what is Anchorage named for?

A. Johnny Anchor, a star of the early film industry who visited Alaska in 1915

B. General Theodore Ambrosius Anchorage, an Army commander for the Union in the Civil War

C. Anchorage, Kentucky

D. A safe place to drop anchor

2. Which Anchorage elementary school is named after a man who killed a local taxi driver?

A. Lake Otis Elementary

B. Tudor Elementary

C. Baxter Elementary

D. Russian Jack Elementary

3. Why is there no J Street in Anchorage?

A. Planners wanted to avoid possible references to George Custer’s J Company that died at Little Big Horn.

B. When written, J is too similar to I, and when spoken, J is too similar to A.

C. Planners were still angry about the policies of American statesman John Jay.

D. There is no J in the Swedish alphabet, and some of the Anchorage planners were Swedish.

4. How many Kmart locations did Anchorage once have?

A. 0

B. 1

C. 2

D. 3

5. In what year did the first McDonald’s in Anchorage open?

A. 1960

B. 1965

C. 1970

D. 1975

6. Who was notable Anchorage resident Miss Wiggles?

A. A member of a popular children’s music band

B. An exotic dancer

C. A local worm farmer

D. Main character in a young-adult book series set in Anchorage

7. What is the next line from this commercial jingle? “Twin Dragon, Mongolian barbecue, can we cook up something, ________”

A. “fresh just for you.”

B “just like we do.”

C. “special just for you.”

D. “something that makes you go woo.”

8. Which Anchorage school is appropriately named after a history teacher?

A. Hanshew Middle School

B. Dimond High School

C. Begich Middle School

D. Wendler Middle School

9. How long did Spenard Road/Lake/neighborhood namesake Joseph “Joe” Spenard live in Anchorage?

A. Around three months

B. Around 20 months

C. Around five years

D. His entire life

10. Which of these four Anchorage restaurants is the oldest?

A. Crow’s Nest

B. White Spot Cafe

C. Club Paris

D. Lucky Wishbone

11. What was the Monkey Wharf?

A. An accounting firm with a sense of humor

B. A bar with live monkeys

C. Nickname for Fourth Avenue during the Alaska pipeline construction heyday

D. A since-destroyed boat dock in South Anchorage

12. Which of these former NFL players graduated from an Anchorage high school?

A. John Elway

B. Jason Elam

C. Shannon Sharpe

D. Mark Schlereth

13. Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson is named after Army pilot Hugh Elmendorf and officer Wilds Richardson. Which of them ever visited Alaska?

A. Elmendorf

B. Richardson

C. Both

D. Neither

14. Was the Buns of Steel workout phenomenon created by an Anchorage aerobics instructor?

A. Yes

B. No

15. In 1983, porn mogul, Hustler publisher and free speech advocate Larry Flynt memorably spent a day in Anchorage. Which of these was NOT one of the reasons he gave for visiting Alaska?

A. To fly to the Soviet Union and release hundreds of pigeons as a symbol of human compassion and the need for world peace

B. To fly to the Soviet Union and deliver medicine made of algae for the ailing Soviet Premier Yuri Andropov

C. To search glaciers for evidence of alien landings on Earth

D. To investigate rumors that Marilyn Monroe was alive and living in the Yukon

16. When was the first airplane flight in Anchorage?

A. 1916

B. 1919

C. 1922

D. 1925

17. What year did the Grateful Dead play at Anchorage’s West High School?

A. 1970

B. 1975

C. 1980

D. 1985

18. Musher John Suter, who competed in the Iditarod from 1988 to 1991, advocated for the use of what surprising dog breed in sled dog racing?

A. German shepherds

B. Poodles

C. Dachshunds

D. Irish setters

19. When was the first bank robbery in Anchorage?

A. 1916

B. 1921

C. 1935

D. 1952

20. How many Navy vessels have been named after Anchorage?

A. 0

B. 1

C. 2

D. 3

21. Who was Anchorage’s first mayor?

A. Simon Bolivar Buckner Jr.

B. Zachariah Loussac

C. Leopold David

D. Sydney Laurence

22. Which of these presidents NEVER visited Anchorage?

A. Warren G. Harding

B. Herbert Hoover

C. Lyndon B. Johnson

D. Bill Clinton

23. Which of these future Major League Baseball stars did NOT play for the Anchorage Glacier Pilots before starting their professional careers?

A. Mark McGwire

B. Aaron Judge

C. Randy Johnson

D. Mike Trout

24. When did Krispy Kreme open in Anchorage?

A. 1995

B. 2002

C. 2016

D. 2023

25. In 2007, longtime game show host Bob Barker visited Anchorage on behalf of what elephant?

A. Annabelle

B. Maggie

C. Stampy

D. Levi

Scoring:

Give yourself one point for each correct answer. Zero to five points: Welcome to Anchorage! I have an ice worm cocktail just for you. Six to 14 points: Not bad! Fifteen to 20 points: Excellent! Twenty-one to 24 points: You are a true Anchorage sourdough! Twenty-five points: You are a scholar of Anchorage!

Answers:

1: D. There is indeed a landlocked Anchorage in Kentucky that predates the Anchorage in Alaska.

2: D. In 1937, Jacob “Russian Jack” Marunenko killed local taxi driver Milton Hamilton. He was found guilty of manslaughter and sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison. Marunenko was also a convicted bootlegger.

3: B. There was no J Company at Little Big Horn. Animus toward John Jay is sometimes, though erroneously, attributed as the reason why Washington, D.C., lacks a J Street.

4: C. The two Anchorage Kmart locations closed in 2003. There were once five Kmarts in Alaska.

5: C. The first McDonald’s in Anchorage opened on July 2, 1970, at the Arctic and Northern Lights Boulevards intersection.

6: B. Miss Wiggles (1922-2012), real name Velma Adkerson, was one of the more popular adult entertainers of her time. She is buried in the downtown Anchorage Memorial Cemetery.

7: A. Here is the complete jingle if you need a song stuck in your head today.

8: A. Ual Strange “U.S.” Hanshew was a history teacher at Central Junior High when he died in 1965.

9: B. Joe Spenard spent about 20 months in Anchorage from 1916 to 1917.

10: D. The Lucky Wishbone opened in 1955, Club Paris in 1957, White Spot in 1959, and the Crow’s Nest in 1965.

11: B. The Monkey Wharf was open in downtown Anchorage from 1976 to 1985. After the bar closed, the monkeys were taken in by the Cabbage Inn restaurant in Kenai. According to an area informant, the monkeys froze to death when the power was not left on during winter.

12: D. Mark Schlereth graduated from Service High in 1984. Jason Elam did buy a house in Alaska.

13: B. Wilds Richardson (1861-1929) spent about 20 years in Alaska, but Hugh Elmendorf (1895-1933) died in a test flight without ever setting foot in Alaska.

14: A. Greg Smithey was the owner and instructor of the Anchorage-based Hip Hop Aerobics Club when he began selling Buns of Steel VHS tapes in 1987.

15: C. Flynt spent part of the day holding court in the presidential suite of the Sheraton Hotel while dressed as Santa Claus.

16: C. On May 24, 1922, Charles “Ham” Hammontree (1893-1947) took off in a Navy surplus Boeing C-11S seaplane, the first airplane flight in Anchorage history. For comparison, the first flight in Alaska occurred in Fairbanks in 1913.

17: C. The Dead played West High on June 19, 20 and 21, 1980. Tickets cost $17.50, about $66 in 2024 money.

18: B. In August 1991, the Iditarod Trail Committee’s board of directors approved a new rule that stated, “Only Northern breeds suitable for arctic travel will be permitted,” ending the use of poodles in the race.

19: B. On May 11, 1921, a man robbed the Bank of Alaska on Fourth Avenue. He was never identified or captured.

20: C. The first USS Anchorage (LSD-36) was the lead ship of the Anchorage class of dock landing ships. It launched in 1968 and was decommissioned in 2003. The second USS Anchorage (LPD-23) is a San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock launched in 2011.

21: C. The home he built here is still standing at 605 W. Second Ave.

22: B. Harding visited Anchorage in 1923, Johnson in 1966, and Clinton in 1994.

23: D.

24: C. Some people camped outside in tents to be among the first inside.

25: B. The Price is Right host paid for Maggie to be relocated from the Alaska Zoo to an elephant sanctuary in California. Annabelle was the other elephant at the Alaska Zoo, brought to Alaska as the prize in a toilet paper sales contest, and who died in 1997. Stampy was the elephant in an episode of “The Simpsons.” Levi is a random name.