Homer, Alaska

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Homer is a city located in Kenai Peninsula Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. One of Homer's nicknames is "the cosmic hamlet by the sea"; another is "the end of the road". A popular local bumper sticker characterizes the town as "Homer - A quaint little drinking village with a fishing.

Geography

Homer is located at 59°38'35" North, 151°31'33" West (59.643059, -151525900).

Homer is on the shore of Kachemak Bay on the southwest side of the Kenai

Peninsula. Its most distinguishing feature is the Homer Spit, a narrow 4.5

mile (7 km) long gravel bar that extends into the bay, on which is located

the Homer Harbor.

Much of the coastline as well as the Homer Spit sank dramatically during the

Good Friday Earthquake in March 1964. After the earthquake, very little

vegetation was able to survive on the Homer Spit.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of

22.4 square miles (58.1 km²), of which, 10.6 square miles (27.4 km²) is land

and 11.9 square miles (30.7 km²) is water. The total area is 52.83% water.

History

Tiller digs indicate that early Alutiq people probably camped in the Homer

area although their villages were on the far side of Kachemak Bay.

Homer was named for Homer Pennock, a gold mining company promoter, who

arrived in 1896 on the Homer Spit and built living quarters for his crew of

50 men. However, gold mining was never profitable in the area.

Homer has long been known as the "halibut fishing capital of the world" and

halibut and salmon sport fishing, along with other tourism, commercial

fishing, and logging are the dominant industries in the Homer area. Homer

co-hosted the 2006 Arctic Winter Games. The Alaska Maritime National

Wildlife Refuge and the Kachemak Bay Research Reserve co-host a visitor

center with interpretive displays known as the "Alaska Islands and Ocean

visitor Center", and there is a cultural and historical museum called "The

Pratt Museum".