Delta Junction
| Delta Junction | |||
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..._-_NARA_-_550584.jpg) View of Delta Junction and the Big Delta area , 1973 |
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| Location in Alaska | |||
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| Basic data | |||
| Foundation : | December 1960 | ||
| State : | United States | ||
| State : | Alaska | ||
| Borough : | Unorganized Borough | ||
| Coordinates : | 64 ° 3 ′ N , 145 ° 43 ′ W | ||
| Time zone : | Alaska ( UTC − 9 / −8 ) | ||
| Residents : | 958 (as of 2010) | ||
| Population density : | 21.4 inhabitants per km 2 | ||
| Area : | 44.7 km 2 (approx. 17 mi 2 ) of which 44.7 km 2 (approx. 17 mi 2 ) is land |
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| Height : | 353 m | ||
| Postal code : | 99737 | ||
| Area code : | +1 907 | ||
| FIPS : | 02-18620 | ||
| GNIS ID : | 1401104 | ||
| Website : | http://ci.delta-junction.ak.us | ||
| Mayor : | Peter "Pete" Hallgren | ||
Delta Junction is a city in the Southeast Fairbanks Census Area in Alaska , United States . According to the 2010 census, the city has 958 inhabitants. It is located about 160 km south of Fairbanks on the Delta River , at the confluence of Jarvis Creek and 14 km south of the confluence of the Delta River with the Tanana River at Big Delta . The Alaska Highway and Richardson Highway meet in Delta Junction . The place name ( junction English for "intersection of two or more streets") indicates.
geography
Delta Junction is located on the Delta River, at the intersection of Richardson Highway | Richardson and Alaska Highway, which forms the end of the Alaska Highway. The city and its surrounding area lie in the fertile valley of the Tanana . Three mountain ranges - the White Mountains in the north, the Granite Mountains in the southeast and the Alaska Range in the southwest - as well as the Delta River surround the city.
The geology of the area, which was once covered by glaciers , is determined by moraines and deposits from the Delta and Tanana. Various mineral deposits have been found in the Delta Junction area, including gold , molybdenum and hard coal . A special natural feature of the landscape is Donnelly Dome , which is located within the military training area of the Fort Greely military base (formerly Fort Wainwright) in the south of Delta Junction. This natural dome was formed by glaciers that had been split in two from the Alaska Range and cut sides of a mountain already located there.
history
Athabasques have inhabited parts of interior Alaska since at least 8000 BC .
At the end of the 19th century, a transport path from Valdez to Eagle was laid, which led past the confluence of the Delta and Tanana and which was followed by the Richardson Highway , built in the early 20th century . After gold was found in Fairbanks in 1902, rest houses and customs offices were set up on the path, one of them in what is now the Big Delta.
In 1928 a herd of 23 bison from Montana was moved to an area south of the Big Delta because bison were critically endangered in the United States. The area in which they were settled was called the Buffalo Center and coincides with what is now Delta Junction. The herd still exists today, includes around 1000 animals and is kept at this size by issuing hunting permits.
During World War II , the United States supported the Soviet Union in the war against the Third Reich and Japan by delivering aircraft under the Lend-Lease Act via Alaska to the east of the Soviet Union. In connection with this, a road was built in Alaska that connected a road to Dawson Creek , Canada , with the Richardson Highway for 2290 km : the Alaska Highway . The Alaska Highway meets the Richardson Highway 12 km south of the Big Delta. This place was named Delta Junction. An airfield , Allen Army Airfield , was also laid out 8 km south of Delta Junction in order to carry out deliveries to the Soviet Union from there. In addition, a second road, the Glenn Highway from Anchorage , Alaska's largest city, to Glenallen on the Richardson Highway was built, so that the connection road from Fairbanks to Anchorage now also ran through Delta Junction.
After the Second World War, the Fort Greely military base was built around the airfield . The base was used to train soldiers in combat in very cold weather, especially in connection with the Cold War . In 1957 the Richardson Highway was paved, as did parts of the Alaska Highway in those years. The military base and increasing tourism led to an economic boom in the area, the economic center of which shifted from the Big Delta to Delta Junction. After the Second World War, some farmers and ranchers also settled around Delta Junction. In 1960 Delta Junction was established as a municipality.
In 1968, petroleum was discovered in the North Slope . In 1974 the construction of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline from Prudhoe Bay to Valdez began, which brought another boom to Delta Junction and led to an increase in the number of residents and businesses.
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, the Tanana Valley was designated as a potential agricultural area in Alaska. The state of Alaska made large tracts of land available to farmers for purchase. The so-called Barley Project was particularly important: barley was to be grown east of Delta Junction, transported to Valdez via a future railway line and then sold to East Asia. Although farms and warehouses were built, the railway line was never realized, which is why the project largely failed. The governors of Alaska, who came under increasing political pressure, gradually cut back the financing of the project; The resulting farms are now mostly pasture and produce hay for feeding, although barley, carrots, potatoes and even wheat are grown on a limited scale. The livestock industry has a processing facility nearby, the Delta Meat and Sausage Company . The area is also known for its production of unusual meats such as yak , bison and wapiti ( elk ).
The pipeline was completed in the 1980s and the Cold War ended shortly afterwards. A new road from Fairbanks to Anchorage has also been built, which is shorter and does not go through Delta Junction. As a result of these three events, Delta Junction fell.
In the 1990s and early 21st century, immigrants from the former Soviet Union came to Delta Junction and changed its demographic profile.
In 1995, Fort Greely was added to the military base reorganization and closure list. By 2002, the military and civilian occupation of the base was gradually reduced. It remained open, but with fewer than 100 employees, mostly busy with infrastructure work or working in the US Army's Cold Regions Test Center , which continued to exist. In 2002 the Cold Regions Test Center and Northern Warfare Training Center were relocated to Fort Wainwright . Large parts of Fort Greely were initially empty, but the unused buildings continued to be heated and maintained. Discussions arose in Delta Junction about setting up a privately operated prison in the empty buildings of Fort Greely. However, the city council's plans ultimately failed, and Allvest Corporation , which had already been contracted, filed a $ 1 million claim for damages.
Shortly thereafter, the US government decided to install a missile defense facility with a missile test site in Fort Greely, which Fort Greely should be fully operational again and also include parts of Fort Wainwright. As a result of the renovation work at the base and its replacement, Delta Junction experienced another strong economic upswing from 2002 to 2005. Government contractors such as Boeing , Boechtel and Brown and Root set up offices on the site.
In addition, a gold mine was set up north of Delta Junction on the Goodpaster River , which, like mineral deposits that are still to be exploited at the Tangle Lakes south of Delta Junction, make the economic future of Delta Junction appear positive.
Demographics
According to the 2000 census, Delta Junction has 840 people in 312 households and 208 families. The population density is therefore 18.8 inhabitants per km². Over 91% of them are white, a good 1% black, a good 4% Native American, and less than 1% each of Asian, Latin American and Pacific origins.
Delta Junction has the highest percentage density of Ukrainian Americans born in Ukraine at 14.4%.
| Population development | |||
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| Census | Residents | ± in% | |
| 1970 | 703 | - | |
| 1980 | 945 | 34.4% | |
| 1990 | 652 | -31% | |
| 2000 | 840 | 28.8% | |
| 2010 | 958 | 14% | |
| 2015 estimate | 929 | -3% | |
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US Decennial Census
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Age and gender
At the 2000 census, 35.6% of households had children under the age of 18 in the same household. 52.6% were married couples, 9.0% were households with housewives living alone. 33.3% were “non-families”; 28.8% consisted of single households, 6.9% of households with single residents who had reached or exceeded the age of 65. The average household size was 2.69 and the average family size was 3.32. The age distribution consisted of:
- 32.6% under 18
- 6.5% 18 to 24
- 26.5% 25 to 44
- 26.5% 45 to 64
- 7.7% 65 and over
The median age was 36 years.
Average income
The median annual household income was $ 43,500 and the median annual family income was $ 58,250. The median annual income was $ 50,469 for men and $ 25,750 for women. The per capita income was $ 19,171. 12.3% of families and 19.4% of the population lived below the poverty line . Of these, 28.8% were younger than 18 years and 13.2% were older than 65.
economy
The backbone of the local economy is the construction and maintenance of military facilities, mining, agriculture, tourism and their supply industries.
Many Delta Junction residents add moose , reindeer , dall sheep and bison hunting and fishing to their food supplies . Some operate small gold mines and hunt or catch fur animals as an additional source of income.
Delta Junction has a small airstrip where charter flights can be booked for hunting, tourism and fishing.
Due to the limited local supply, many residents drive the Richardson Highway to Fairbanks, about 130 kilometers away, to shop. Although Delta Junction has a clinic, additional medical care can be found in Fairbanks.
climate
Since Delta Junction and its surroundings are not on the Pacific , the climate there is drier than in the Alaskan coastal area. The climate shows the typical seasonal extremes of subarctic regions. The annual rainfall is low. The average minimum temperature in January is −23 ° C, the average maximum temperature in July +20 ° C. The lowest temperature ever measured was −53 ° C, the highest +33 ° C.
The sky in Delta Junction is mostly sunny in summer and partly clear and partly overcast in winter. Northern lights can be seen on clear winter nights . As in all subarctic regions, the nights in the months May to July are extremely short or consist only of a twilight phase. In contrast, the months of November to January have only four to five hours of daylight and twilight hours a day.
Soldiers from Fort Greely nicknamed Delta Junction "Windy City" and "Little Chicago " because in Delta Junction (but not in the surrounding area) a southerly wind blows on many days, coming up over the Delta River from the Gulf of Alaska . The wind brings river mud in summer and snowdrifts in winter. In every winter there are some days on which the temperature, which can be as low as −40 ° C, rises to 0 ° C. This occurs when the south wind brings Chinook warm air from the Gulf of Alaska. If the wind subsides again, the temperatures return to the normal minimum temperatures.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Annual Estimates of the Resident Population for Incorporated Places: April 1, 2010 to July 1, 2015 . Retrieved July 2, 2016.
- ^ Census of Population and Housing . Census.gov. Retrieved June 4, 2015.