Welcome to Healy, Alaska
Today was spent running errands for the project. We spent a lot of time in Fairbanks today, but before we made that drive we wondered around the small town of Healy to get a really good idea of what it has to offer.
Of course I did learn some history about the town. Healy sits at the mouth of Healy Creek, which is on the Nenana River. The town was started by the Usibelli Coal Mine in 1918. Today this is the largest coal mining operation in Alaska producing 800,000 tons of coal each year. In 1971 the company began a large effort for environmental reclamation and has returned much of the coal mining areas back to wilderness.
Today Healy has a population of just under 1000 people. Where do people go in Healy? Well, here are some of my favorite places to visit it the town. If you want a good old fashion diner lunch experience then Rose's is the place to eat. The food is good and there is lots of it. Rose is very nice also.
Rose has the best diner in town!
If you want to learn about the businesses in town you can stop in at the Chamber of Commerce, complete with its own outhouse. When you need to go to the bank, or stop at the firehouse, or just get together with friends, the Community Center is the place. There are many places in town that offer showers to campers and folks living in the area, but at the local Chevron gas station you can rent a campsite, do your laundry, and get a hot shower (hot water is extra) all in one spot!
The local Chamber of Commerce building.
The Community Center is an active place all year.
The Chevron station has it all!
All of the children in the area attend the Tri Valley School, which has grades K-12. The school is all in-doors and is very nice. They even have a place to park your snowmobiles and ATVs during the winter and summer months.
The Tri Valley School has grades K-12.
The school has parking for everyone.
I tried to look up information on where the town got its name. The best I can figure is that the name comes from Captain Michael A. Healy. In 1875 Healy came to Alaska as the second officer on board the cutter Rush. In 1886, after moving up in rank in on several vessels Healy returned to Alaska as the commanding officer of the cutter Bear, until 1895. Healy was a great captain, promoting science and working to protect the natural resources of the area. He even helped introduce a major science program along with John Muir. Do you know what John Muir did while he was in California? After the seal and whale populations began to drop, Healy and Muir introduced Siberian Reindeer to Alaska, to help provide food and clothing for the native people.
Do you know the history of your area? Where did the name of your town or school come from?