Delta Junction Alaska City Profile

The town of Delta Junction is located about 100 miles south of Fairbanks, Alaska. The Big Delta is located at the intersection of the Delta and Tanana Rivers. Delta Junction is technically the end of the Alaska Highway. Delta Junction, Alaska has a very small population of just under 1000. This is very small for the Lower 48 but in Alaska you might as well call it a city. The reason its called Delta Junction is because in World War II the Americans helped support the Soviet Union with weapons, airplanes, and supplies into the Far East of Russia. In order for this to happen, they Alaska Highway was built from an existing road in Dawson Creek, British Columbia with the Richardson Highway in Alaska which almost equaled 1,500 miles.

In 1971 the George Parks Highway was completed which linked Anchorage and Fairbanks. The road follows the railroad route and is a shorter drive than driving the Glenn/Richardson Highways. A quick history lesson will show you that after the Cold War ended in 1991, the economy of Delta Junction took a steep nose dive. During the 1990’s and 2000’s you began to see people from the old Soviet republics starting to move there due the similar climates and this led to a change in the make up of the area. Construction of the Pogo Gold Mine just north of the town combined with Fort Greely becoming fully operational again led to an economic boom during the early 2000’s. You saw large firms such as Boeing and Bechtel opening up offices under contract from the US Government.

Population: 993
Elevation: 1,158ft (353m)
Website: www.ci.delta-junction.ak.us
News: DeltaNewsWeb.com