Capital Choice

The city of Juneau (pop. 6,050) has been the capital of Alaska since 1900, and its site in the Panhandle of the state made it one of the Alaskan cities closest to the lower 48 states. But the modern era has made Juneau's once enviable position uncomfortably awkward.

Most of the 300,000 Alaskans now live in the northern portion of the state, the bulk of them around the two largest cities, Anchorage and Fairbanks. What is more, Juneau remains inaccessible over land to the rest of the state--it can only be reached by plane or boat.

If that were not enough, it is a full two time zones away from the area of the state where most of the population lives. Twice, in 1960 and 1962, an initiative has been offered to the voters to move the capital farther north, and both times it was rejected. But last week Alaskans, by a vote of 40,865 to 29,429, decided that the time had come to change capitals. Under the terms of the initiative, the new site cannot be closer than 30 miles to either Anchorage (pop. 48,029) or Fairbanks (pop. 14,771) and will have to be carved out of the wilderness between those two cities. Governor William A. Egan will now appoint a commission to propose sites, and its three likeliest choices will be put before the voters in 1976. Among the more exotic possibilities already suggested are Nenana, Talkeenta and Wasilla. Whatever the electorate's decision, the new capital will bring up to date the state motto: "North to the Future."

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so viewer discretion is required.