The Alaska Pipeline

In 1975, Fairbanks Alaska was the richest city in the U.S. Back then, its average income was almost twice as high as Stamford, CT, which usually tops the list.

Last week, PBS's American Experience began airing a fascinating documentary on just what made Fairbanks so very rich back then. The boom was fueled by the construction of the massive Alaska Pipeline:

There were only two police officers patrolling Fairbanks when the Trans-Alaskan pipeline project arrived on the scene. J. B. Carnahan was one of them.

Then, almost overnight, the sleepy town of Fairbanks became a boomtown. Not since Gold Rush days had the inhabitants seen so much activity. All of sudden Fairbanks was filled with a lot people with a lot of cash to burn.

J. B. Carnahan: "It was like a circus every night. People coming in to town with $3,000, $4,000, $5,000 cash in their pockets. Suddenly women that we'd never seen before were appearing from places like Florida and New York. It was like night and day."

People were coming up from the lower 48 states. They would drive up through Canada on the Alaska Highway. Welders and truckers came from Oklahoma and Texas. Secretaries, teachers, cooks, not to mention prostitutes and pimps, came looking for opportunities and money. Laborers from South America and Ireland also came. By 1976 Fairbanks had doubled in size, to 40,000 people.

I grew up in the 70s and the vintage footage brought back quite a lot of memories. Very highly recommended.