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Community Type: Home Rule City
- Current
Population: 2537
- Borough
Name: Unorganized
- Regional
Native Corporation: Chugach Alaska Corporation
- REAA/School
District: Cordova City Schools
- Latitude:
60° 33' N
- Longitude:
145° 45' W
- See Map
of the region
- Land Area:
4.60
- Water Area:
2.00
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| Location:
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Cordova is located at the southeastern end of Prince William Sound
in the Gulf of Alaska. The community was built on Orca Inlet,
at the base of Eyak Mountain. It lies 52 air miles southeast of
Valdez and 150 miles southeast of Anchorage.
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| History:
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The area has historically been the home to Aleuts, with the addition
of migrating Athabascan and Tlingit natives who called themselves Eyaks. Alaskan Natives of other descents also settled in Cordova.
Orca Inlet was originally named "Puerto Cordova" by
Don Salvador Fidalgo in 1790. One of the first producing oil fields
in Alaska was discovered at Katalla, 47 miles Cordova, in 1902.
The town of Cordova was named in 1906 by Michael Heney, builder
of the Copper River and Northwestern Railroad. Cordova became
the railroad terminus and ocean shipping port for copper ore from
the Kennecott Mine up the Copper River. The first trainload of
ore was loaded onto the steamship "Northwestern," bound
for a smelter in Tacoma, Washington, in April 1911. The Bonanza-Kennecott
Mines operated until 1938 and yielded over $200 million in copper,
silver and gold. The Katalla oil field produced until 1933. Fishing became
the economic base in the early 1940s.
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| Culture:
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Cordova has a majority of non-Natives, but a significant Native
population with an active Village Council. Commercial fishing
and subsistence are central to the community's culture.
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| Economy:
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Cordova supports a large fishing fleet for Prince William Sound
and several fish processing plants. 355 residents hold commercial
fishing permits. Logging and tourism also add to the local economy.
The U.S. Forest Service Headquarters for the National Forest are
located in the community. The U.S. Coast Guard is also stationed
in Cordova. Offshore oil development may enhance long-range growth
potential.
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| Transportation:
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Cordova is accessed by plane or boat. It is linked directly to
the North Pacific Ocean shipping lanes through the Gulf of Alaska.
It receives year-round barge services, and State Ferry service
in the summer. The Merle K. "Mudhole" Smith Airport
at mile 13 is State-owned and operated, with a 7,500' runway.
The Cordova Municipal Airport has a 1,900' gravel runway. Daily
scheduled jet flights and air taxis are available. The FAA Flight
Tower serves air traffic through the entire Sound. Float planes
land at the State-owned Eyak Lake seaplane base or the boat harbor.
Harbor facilities include docking, an 85-slip small boat harbor,
a ferry terminal and marine repairs. A 48-mile gravel road provides
access to the Copper River Delta to the east and north. Plans
for a highway up the Copper River to connect with the statewide
road system have been controversial.
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| Climate:
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Winter temperatures range from 17 to 28; summer temperatures are
49 to 63. Average annual precipitation is 167 inches, including
80 inches of snowfall.
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