A Visit to Old Seldovia

The city of Seldovia, Alaska is located on the southern Kenai Peninsula. Seldovia has a rich and varied history marked by periods of boom and bust. It was known for decades as the ‘boardwalk town’ because buildings along the waterfront were built on pilings and connected by a wooden walkway, to keep the town elevated above the extreme tides. The community underwent an extreme change after the 1964 Good Friday Earthquake, greatly altering the physical character of the town. This StoryMap documents Seldovia's historic journey through good times and tragedy via photos and scenes from each of these periods provided by residents who lived through the experience. Users can take a virtual tour of “Old Seldovia”, exploring the community as it appeared in 1957, 1964 and 1967.

On each map, click on the red dots to get information about particular buildings; click on the blue camera icons to see photos taken at those locations. You can also use the search bar at the upper left corner of each map to look for a particular family home or business by name. Place your cursor outside the map boundary to scroll up or down the page. The StoryMap will continue to be updated as we acquire additional images and information.

In 1957, Seldovia's fishing industry was running at full steam, driving Seldovia’s population and economy to its near peak. The town of Homer, on the north side of Kachemak Bay, had recently been connected to Alaska’s road system and was starting to lure residents away from the more-isolated Seldovia. However, Seldovia’s economy was still strong, with a sizable local fishing fleet and several busy canneries. Seldovia was also home to a wide variety of businesses including general stores, clothing shops, bars, restaurants, a hospital, movie theater and more. If you needed it, you could probably get it in Seldovia.

The 9.2-magnitude 1964 Good Friday Earthquake changed the face of Seldovia forever. Initial damage was thought to be largely limited to the newly-built small boat harbor, where the tsunami caused by the earthquake tore floats apart and sent boats swirling into each other. Few effects were noted on land and Seldovians breathed a sigh of relief – until the next set of high tides. Buildings that had been built to stand above the highest tides were suddenly being flooded twice a day. The earthquake had caused the land Seldovia sits on to sink four feet. If you look carefully in the 1964 aerial photo, taken three weeks after the earthquake, you can see water over the top of the harbor breakwater.

In 1965, the US Army Corps of Engineers began work on a project known as “Urban Renewal” to alleviate the flooding problems in Seldovia. Rather than simply elevate the buildings and boardwalk higher above the beach, it was decided to tear down everything in the flood zone, raise the land with rock obtained by blasting apart a hill in the downtown area, and build a more modern town with a road, sewer and piped water. Only one cannery, Wakefield Fisheries, rebuilt. Many families moved away, though some later returned. And some new faces appeared as well, as a large logging project brought a new type of industry to Seldovia.

It wasn't until 1967 that the post-earthquake landscape alteration (“Urban Renewal”) was complete and rebuilding of homes and businesses could begin in earnest. Some people lived in trailers or other temporary houses in the meantime, while others left the community altogether. Only one cannery, Wakefield Fisheries, rebuilt. Seldovia was tested as both its physical appearance and its economy were upended. However, the community once again demonstrated its resilience. Today’s Seldovia remains a place where people treasure family stories intertwined with the history of this community by the sea.