Copper Center is located at the confluence of the Copper and Klutina Rivers and is one of the oldest European-established communities in Alaska’s Interior. The area has long been an important gathering and fishing site for the Ahtna Athabascan people, whose presence in the Copper River Basin dates back thousands of years.
In 1898, Andrew Holman led a group of Scandinavians who founded Copper Center, establishing a townsite and a temporary tent hotel to provide shelter for prospectors traveling to the Klondike Goldfields via the Valdez–Eagle Trail. As traffic increased, Copper Center quickly became a major supply and roadhouse stop, later serving travelers along the Richardson Highway, Alaska’s oldest highway.
Today, Copper Center remains a small but historically rich community and an important gateway to Wrangell–St. Elias National Park and Preserve. The town is well known for its excellent salmon fishing on the Klutina River.
