Fairbanks Alaska is an exciting city with a great History. Be sure to include Fairbanks in your Alaska Vacation plans
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Fairbanks Alaska
Fairbanks Information
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Fairbanks Hotels
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Fairbanks Camping
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Fairbanks Shopping
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Fairbanks Dining
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Fairbanks Things to do
   Chena Lake Rec. Area
   El Dorado Gold Mine Tour
   Gold Dredge #8
   Large Animal Research Center
   Northern Alaska Tour Co.
   Pioneer Park
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   University of Alaska Museum
   North Star Golf Club
Fairbanks Transportation

   Alaska Bus Guy
   Alaska Railroad
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   Gabe's Truck & RV Repair
   Grayline of Alaska

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Fairbanks Alaska
 
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Fairbanks Alaska, situated in the heart of the Tanana Valley with the Alaska Range  to the south and the gold-bearing hills to the north, is still, in spirit, a frontier town.
Here you walk the streets side by side with merchants, miners, Indians, Eskimos, pioneers and cheechakos. It is a city of contrasts. Historic buildings contrast with the modern-day facades of department stores and office buildings. Today, Fairbanks is a transportation hub able to serve North Slope oil fields and Arctic villages.

Visitor Information can be found at

Fairbanks is a modern, bustling city. Twelve radio stations, six television stations, a public Broadcasting System operated by the University of Alaska Fairbanks and of course cable TV. Fairbanks has one daily newspaper, the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner; churches, 32 public schools, numerous private schools and  a regional library.

Fairbanks is Alaska's second largest city and has expanded its borders to include a city population of 30,224, and an overall area population  of 82,840 incorporated as the Fairbanks North Star Borough. During the summer in Fairbanks, you can see crystal clear skies, with Denali etched against the blue horizon. There are division less days and nights of light when flowers bloom profusely in vibrant reds, yellows and blues from June until mid-September. Daylight goes on for more than 21 hours. The average  summer temperature is 61, with records in the mid-90's in June and July.

In winter, you will find a quiet white city, sometimes with an eerie sting of ice fog. The average winter temperature is 12 below, with the record 66  below. Still, a city of contrasts.

One of the favorite aspects of Fairbanks is its rich cultural life. Here live writers, painters, weavers, sculptors, poets, historians, print makers,  potters, musicians, photographers and actors, some of them award winning. Much of their work is readily available in local gift shops, art galleries and stores.

History
In 1901 Captain E.T. Barnette disembarked from the steamship, Lavelle Young, and set up a temporary trading post on the banks of the Chena River. His temporary post became permanent when Felix Pedro discovered gold in the nearby hills the following year, sparking a stampede of miners into the Interior. Fairbanks, incorporated as a city in 1903, was named after Indiana Senator Charles Fairbanks who later became vice-president. Now, “discovery day” is commemorated every July with a bang-up celebration called Golden Days.

There is still active mining in the area and glimpses of the former bonanzas can be seen along the Steese Highway in the tailing piles leftover by the  gold dredges. Fairbanks economy is tied to government, military, the petroleum  industry, transportation, the University of Alaska and tourism.

Even though the town itself is modern, you can still find plenty of that gutsy pioneer spirit. Despite the boom and bust eras of the pipeline, goldrushes and a devastating flood in 1967, Fairbanks continues to develop and prosper.

 

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